By p. joseph potocki on February 14, 2011
While Calpine is the largest producer of geothermal energy in the world, geothermal is just a tiny fraction of its energy wholesaling portfolio.
Posted in FEATURES | Tagged earthquakes, fumaroles, geothermal energy, Geysers Resort Hotel, Healdsburg, Lake County, Luther Burbank, Mayacamas Mountains, PG&E, San Francisco area earthquakes, Sonoma County, Sonoma's Eighth Wonder of the World, The Geysers
By p. joseph potocki on February 13, 2011
The Geysers gained renown from the Indian Geysers Legend with its grizzly bear phantom and from novelist Robert Louis Stevenson squatting just over the hill.
Posted in FEATURES | Tagged Eadweard Muybridge, Guiseppe Garibaldi, J.P. Morgan, King Edward VII, Lake County, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sonoma County, Teddy Roosevelt, The Geysers, The Witches Cauldron, Tom Thumb, Ulysses S. Grant, William Jennings Bryan
By p. joseph potocki on February 12, 2011
The Geysers are the legacy of ancient volcanic incidents which occurred long before humans came into being.
Posted in FEATURES | Tagged ancient volcanoes, fumaroles, geothermal energy, Lake County history, Mayacamas Mountains, Miwok, Pomo, San Francisco Bay Area, Sonoma County history, The Geysers, Wappo
By p. joseph potocki on February 11, 2011
Did you know that with each flush of the toilet North Bay residents both power their homes—and provoke earthquakes?
Posted in FEATURES | Tagged earthquakes, geothermal energy, green energy, Lake County, San Francisco area earthquakes, Sonoma County
By p. joseph potocki on February 10, 2011
“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”
—Jack London
“(Jack London writes) as if his digestion, like his politics and rhetoric, was out of order.”
—Ambrose Bierce
Posted in BAY TIME INFORMER, FEATURES | Tagged alcoholism, Ambrose Bierce, Ambrose Bierce quotations, Bohemian Club, Bohemian Grove, Devil's Dictionary, George Sterling, Jack London, San Francisco history, William Randolph Hearst
By p. joseph potocki on February 9, 2011
1996—Baghdad-by-the-Bay’s Herb Caen plucks “Pullet Surprise” for It’s News to Me…
1884—Sugar Daddy snaps, shoots Chronicle owner Michael de Young smack dab in the books
Posted in FEATURES, Timeless Twists | Tagged Ambrose Bierce, Armistead Maupin, Herb Caen, James King of William, Mark Twain in San Francisco, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco history, San Francisco journalism, San Francisco newspapers, William Randolph Hearst
By Dick Bingo on February 8, 2011
San Francisco has always catered to the open-minded gourmand. At Bab’s, for example, “….one dined off a coffin and was lighted by green colored tapers, affixed to skulls.”
Posted in FEATURES, Gobble & Glug | Tagged Alice Waters, Bay Area foodstuffs, Guy Fieri, San Francisco chefs, San Francisco history, San Francisco restaurants, Thomas Keller
By p. joseph potocki on February 6, 2011
The most entertaining speculation into Harding’s death comes from The Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency. They claim that Harding was first bitten by a vampire on a boat ride on the San Francisco Bay – and then poisoned to put him out of his misery.
Posted in BAY TIME INFORMER, COLUMNS, FEATURES | Tagged Ambrose Bierce, attempted assasination of Gerald Ford, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency, George W. Bush, Palace Hotel, Presidents Day, Rutherford B. Hayes, San Francisco history, U.S. Presidential visits to San Francisco, U.S. presidents in San Francisco, Warren G. Harding, Warren G. Harding death, William McKinley, William Randolph Hearst
By p. joseph potocki on February 5, 2011
1880—”Mammy” Pleasant said to pull brains from cracked nut in House of Mystery
1937—Golden Gate Bridge opens, suicides celebrate
1978—Elivis imitator, Jim Jones, botches big batch of Kool-Aid
Posted in FEATURES, Timeless Twists | Tagged Bloody Thursday, Fatty Arbuckle scandal, Golden Dragon Restaurant Massacre, Golden Gate Bridge suicides, Jim Jones Kool Aid, Mary Ellen "Mammy" Pleasant, Pisco Punch, San Francisco history blog, San Francisco vampire, William Sharon
By Dick Bingo on February 4, 2011
“No one refers to San Francisco by that title except people from Los Angeles,” said the court. “I am the chairman of the County Council of Defense, and I warn you that you stand in danger of being interned as an alien enemy. Don’t do it again.”
Posted in BAY TIME INFORMER, FEATURES, VIDS | Tagged Don't call it Frisco, films shot in San Francisco, Frisco, movies about San Francisco, San Francisco cinematic history
By p. joseph potocki on February 3, 2011
“Negros playing it. Eye shades, sleeves up, cigars in mouth. Gin and liquor and smoke and filth. But music!”
Posted in BAY TIME INFORMER, FEATURES | Tagged American jazz, birthplace of jazz, black music, Herbert Asbury, Jazz on the Barbary Coast, San Francisco history, San Francisco's Barbary Coast, the Barbary Coast, Tom Stoddard
By p. joseph potocki on February 2, 2011
In addition to California, treaty terms cede Texas to the U.S., along with Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and a portion of Colorado.
Posted in FEATURES | Tagged 1848, Chinese immigrants, Chinese in San Francisco, February 2, John C. Fremont, Mexican American War, San Francisco blog, San Francisco Chinatown, San Francisco history, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
By Queenie Cummins on February 1, 2011
The CIA, with the blessing and full cooperation of both the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and the SFPD—sets up and runs an LSD brothel in San Francisco for ten solid years?
Posted in COLUMNS, FEATURES, Queenie's Conspiracy Closet | Tagged CIA, George White, LSD, MK-ULTRA, Operation Midnight Climax, Pete Bingo, prostitution, San Francisco history
By Dick Bingo on January 31, 2011
George says he long ago morphed from the debauched party boy I knew into a proud, upright born again patriot.
Posted in FEATURES | Tagged American Exceptionalism, international arms trade, national oil consumption, world incarceration rates
By p. joseph potocki on January 30, 2011
“Haute Living is a highly exclusive publication; if you do not fly private, stay in five-star properties, or own homes valued in excess of $3 million, you do not have access to our magazines.”
Posted in FEATURES | Tagged contemporary San Francisco, Haute Living Magazine, Nappin' Alley Winestyle Magazine, satire, the Tenderloin, wealth
By Queenie Cummins on January 29, 2011
“Weaving Spiders Come Not Here” is the Bohemian Club motto, meant to suggest that no deals are to be cut at their two week long Bohemian Grove summer bacchanalia. And if you believe that, why I’m selling some sunny oceanfront property in North Dakota…
Posted in COLUMNS, FEATURES, Queenie's Conspiracy Closet | Tagged Bohemian Club, Bohemian Grove, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, San Francisco history
By Dick Bingo on January 26, 2011
Renowned food & corporate crime critic Dick Bingo reviews Chez Guillotine, San Francisco’s most exciting new restaurant on its one year anniversary.
Posted in FEATURES, Gobble & Glug | Tagged humor, San Francisco restaurant review, satire
By Mikki Bingo on January 25, 2011
Your typical corporate Zombie enjoys an exciting and satisfying sexual life. Here the old adage “money is nature’s most powerful aphrodisiac” seems to hold true.
Posted in COLUMNS, FEATURES, Omni San Fransexualis | Tagged san francisco, satire, sex, zombies
By p. joseph potocki on January 24, 2011
“We were getting the real international lechers now, in the spring of ’45. The United Nations delegates were very large stuff in San Francisco.”
Posted in BAY TIME INFORMER, COLUMNS, FEATURES | Tagged "The Fortress", 65th Anniversary of U.N. Conference of International Organization, Sally Stanford, San Francisco bordellos, San Francisco history, San Francisco sex industry, Sausalito, United Nations in San Francisco
By Ambrose Bierce on January 23, 2011
Ambrose Bierce, in his first irregularly scheduled column, excerpts definitions from The Devil’s Newest Dictionary.
Posted in COLUMNS, Devil's Newest Dictionary, FEATURES | Tagged Ambrose Bierce, Devil's Dictionary, dictionary definitions, humor, misanthrope, parody, san francisco, San Francisco eccentric, sarcasm, satire
By p. joseph potocki on January 20, 2011
“…during the rainy season of 1849-50 horses, mules, and carts were sucked down into the mud and drowned; and many men, trying to cross the streets while drunk, narrowly escaped similar deaths.”
Posted in BAY TIME INFORMER, FEATURES | Tagged Barbary Coast, San Francisco blog, San Francisco history, San Francisco weather
By p. joseph potocki on December 31, 2010
Happy Jack Harrington was the Barbary Coast’s own Beau Brummel, Bacchus and P.T. Barnum all rolled up into one… Happy Jack loved everyone, and everyone loved Happy Jack.
Posted in BAY TIME INFORMER, FEATURES | Tagged Barbary Coast, delirium tremens, dive bars, Happy Jack Harrington, New Year's fable, San Francisco history, temperance
By p. joseph potocki on February 21, 2010
“It’s about seeing the world as what it can be, and not what it is.” —K.R. Sridhar on 60 minutes, back in February 21, 2010
Posted in FEATURES, Newz Futures | Tagged 60 Minutes, Bloom Box, clean energy, corporate power, fuel cells, K.R. Sridhar, Newz Futures, personal energy independence, Tea Party
By p. joseph potocki on February 20, 2010
“Conservatively, one out of every three homeless men who is sleeping in a doorway, alley or box in our cities and rural communities has put on a uniform and served this country.”
Posted in FEATURES, NEWS | Tagged Beyond Chron, Care Not Cash, Gavin Newsom, L.A. Times, National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, San Francisco homeless, San Francisco Public Library, SFBG Blog, The Savage Nation
By p. joseph potocki on February 10, 2010
WASHINGTON — In a move Fox News is calling “brilliant statesmanship” and “the best use of their time,” Senate Republicans have dropped a political bombshell by ripping pages from Lewis Carroll.
Posted in FEATURES, NEWS | Tagged Barack Obama, Fox News, Harry Reed, Mitch McConnell, Republican filibuster, Republican obstructionism, Sarah Palin, satire, Senate Democratic weakness, Tea Party
By p. joseph potocki on February 3, 2010
Times are heady for train travel proponents here in the San Francisco Bay Area… Is this enhanced rail service a 21st Century economic boon for the Bay Area, and, perhaps for the state?
Posted in FEATURES, NEWS | Tagged 1869 Transcontinental Railroad, BART, California High Speed Rail, San Francisco Bay Area news, SF Muni
By p. joseph potocki on January 31, 2010
“Reality” is as dead as the slide rule – and as barren as sterile rock. The nerd, who once was shunned…is today’s celebrated Digital Conquistador.
Posted in BAY TIME INFORMER, FEATURES | Tagged Cooking with Bubbie, Digital Nation, PBS Frontline, The Matrix, World of Warcraft
By Mikki Bingo on January 30, 2010
Dear Mikki,
I’m head over heels in love with my car. I’m sure these feelings are mutual. Do you have a problem with that?
Posted in COLUMNS, FEATURES, Omni San Fransexualis | Tagged car lust, car sex, humor, love of cars, Omni San Fransexualis, satire
By p. joseph potocki on January 29, 2010
Wretched — In cannibalism, when some guy named Ed simply won’t stay down.
Posted in FEATURES | Tagged comic definitions, humorous definitions, Neal O'Jizzum, twisted definitions
By Pete Bingo on January 28, 2010
“The State of the Union? I thought it would never end. And that Virginia guy? Damn if he didn’t spout everything I’d just heard outa Obama.”
Posted in COLUMNS, FEATURES, Pundit Pete Posits | Tagged Barack Obama, Delancey Street, Dick Bingo, Ha-Ra, Mikki Bingo, Pete Bingo, san francisco, satire, State of the Union speech
By p. joseph potocki on January 27, 2010
2003—Gavin gushes green from Getty’s gobs
1880—Big Bertha outweighs Oofty Goofty in Romeo and Juliet
Posted in FEATURES, Timeless Twists | Tagged Abe Warner, Alcatraz, American Indians, Big Bertha, Gavin Newsom, Gordon Getty, John Muir, Oofty Goofty, Raker Act, Sally Rand, Sally Rand's Nude Ranch, San Francisco Giants, San Francisco history, the Cobweb Palace, the Grateful Dead, Trips Festival, World Series
By p. joseph potocki on January 26, 2010
Nearly 50 North Bay activists rallied Tuesday evening demanding congressional Democrats follow-through on enacting progressive health care reform.
Posted in FEATURES, NEWS | Tagged congressional Democrats, health care reform protest, MoveOn.org, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County
By Will Nevrluz on January 22, 2010
Friday morning’s surprise 5-4 decision means all nine seats of the Supreme Court will be traded on the NYSE once its IPO offering is completed.
Posted in FEATURES, NEWS, The Corporate Coddler, with Will Nevrluz | Tagged BBQ, cannabalism, corporations, fascism, public outrage, satire, U.S. Supreme Court
By Will Nevrluz on January 20, 2010
“The election carnage was such that even eminently Fair & Balanced Fox newscasters say they’d be shocked to see another Democrat candidate risk leaving the Party’s deep warren—ever again.”
Posted in NEWS, The Corporate Coddler, with Will Nevrluz | Tagged Democratic Party loss, Fox News, Martha Coakley, Massachusetts Senate race, national news, Republican Party, satire, Scott Brown
By p. joseph potocki on January 16, 2010
Though an infamous miser, Lick paid his workers well. He was an unassuming man whose monument to himself—an immense pyramid dwarfing even the Great Pyramid at Giza—was to be erected in downtown San Francisco.
Posted in BAY TIME INFORMER, FEATURES | Tagged Catalina Island, Ghiradelli chocolate, Gold Rush San Francisco, Great Pyramid at Giza, James Lick, James Lick freeway, James Lick Observatory, Lick House, San Francisco history, Santa Clara Valley
By Dick Bingo on January 15, 2010
Once upon a time a retired Chevron CEO traveled to the Nigerian Delta where he was baffled by the cool reception he received from the native tribespeople. More than a decade had passed since that unfortunate little…uh…incident.
Posted in FEATURES | Tagged Bohemian Club, Chevron, Mandalay Camp, Nigerian Delta, satire
By Will Nevrluz on January 14, 2010
But you, I said, are God. Only you have the power to change all this horrendous greedy evil and make things good.
“I think a strong Goldman Sachs…is good for the country.”
Posted in FEATURES, The Corporate Coddler, with Will Nevrluz | Tagged financial bailout, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, God, Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein
By Dick Bingo on January 13, 2010
Wells Fargo, $25 billion bail-out beneficiary benefits from banned banking practice — but won’t stop bilking taxpayers
Posted in FEATURES, Timeless Twists | Tagged Bechtel, Central Pacific Railroad, Charles Crocker, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco history, San Francisco Main Library controversy, The Octopus, Wells Fargo
By Sharky Bate on January 11, 2010
Bubba, Tahoe’s 700 pound break-in black bear is given a poesy tribute by SF Bay Timeless hip hop Emperor, Sharky Bate
Posted in FEATURES, Sharky's Hip hop Critters | Tagged Bubba the bear, hip hop, Lake Tahoe, Sharky Bate
By p. joseph potocki on January 10, 2010
Here, nature’s sublime perfection is re-imagined into Pixars and Lucasfilms, into oil refineries, cargo ports, nuclear arms and biotech labs; re-imagined into freeways and collapsing bridges, into internet communes and staid financial houses built on mud.
Posted in BAY TIME INFORMER, FEATURES | Tagged Left Coast, robber barons, San Francisco Bay Area history, Wild West
By p. joseph potocki on January 8, 2010
They, like Emperor Norton, garnered reams of newsprint, but Bummer and Lazarus didn’t give one guttural growl about Joshua Norton.
Posted in BAY TIME INFORMER, FEATURES | Tagged animal cruelty, Bummer and Lazarus, California Gold Rush, Edward Jump cartoons, Emperor Norton I, Joshua Abraham Norton, San Francisco history, San Francisco legend, The Three Bummers
By p. joseph potocki on January 7, 2010
Long before Rupert Murdoch’s quest for media hegemony spawned Fox, our nation marveled at a vast media empire built by San Francisco’s own prodigal son—William Randolph Hearst.
Posted in BAY TIME INFORMER | Tagged fascism, mass media, media consolidation, media moguls, propaganda, Rupert Murdoch, San Francisco history, San Francisco news, wealth, William Randolph Hearst, yellow journalism
By Mikki Bingo on January 4, 2010
Dear Mikki,
Is it true a British study has proven G-Spots are a hoax? Did I fake all my orgasms? They sure did feel real.
Posted in COLUMNS, FEATURES, Omni San Fransexualis | Tagged clitoral stimulation, female orgasm, female sexuality, G-Spot, G-Spot myth, Kings College
By p. joseph potocki on January 2, 2010
1927—San Francisco’s Philo T. Farnsworth invents boob tube. Civilization ends
Posted in FEATURES, Timeless Twists | Tagged Emperor Norton, Frank Chu, Philo T. Farnsworth, Sally Stanford, San Francisco history, Sister Boom-Boom
By p. joseph potocki on January 1, 2010
O’Brien family legend holds that he landed his Riptides column, promoted as the “blend of California’s brilliant past and present” after he’d penned a short ditty about a moth’s lone ferry ride across the bay.
Posted in BAY TIME INFORMER, FEATURES | Tagged Riptides, Robert O'Brien, San Francisco Chronicle columnist, San Francisco history
By p. joseph potocki on December 30, 2009
“Tom could hardly keep his smoke down. He doubled over and seemed set to roll on the floor in a fitful outpouring of uncontrollable hilarity.”
Posted in FEATURES | Tagged Arkansas, Coyote, NORML, Ozark Mountains, resurrection, Tom Snyder, Tom Snyder show
By p. joseph potocki on December 24, 2009
The entire SF Bay Timeless team flies to the North Pole tonight to help Santa pour coal sludge into corporate stockings.
Posted in FEATURES
By p. joseph potocki on December 23, 2009
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, joined by House counterpart, John “The Brown Bruiser” Boehner, promise to “kiss the mat for Republicare.”
Posted in FEATURES, NEWS | Tagged comic news, congress, health care reform, humor, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, NEWS, Republicans, RNC, robust public option, satire