The first week of October is totally THE best time to be in San Francisco. The days might start off foggy but by the afternoon it is sunny and warm, and in the evening you get the golden-est sunsets.

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Even Bush's effigy would give its right arm to be part of a Bay Bridge sunset.

Thursday, October 5, was a day of protest against the Bush administration, and San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza--down by the Ferry Building--was the site of a large gathering. By the time I got there in the evening it had mostly dispersed, but I did get to hear the Bay Area director of the 9-11 Truth Alliance speak.

Carol Brouillet

Saturday, October 7, was the second of three days of free concerts in Golden Gate Park. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass features headliners such as Elvis Costello, Gillian Welsh, Billy Bragg, Emmylou Harris, Richard Thompson, T-Bone Burnett, and Earl Scruggs.

I liked The Pine Leaf Boys, from Louisiana, who had been picked up and promoted by a legendary Bay Area record store, Arhoolie Records.

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Wilson Savoy, Blake Miller, and Jon Bertrand of The Pine Leaf Boys

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Cedric Watson and Drew Simon of the The Pine Leaf Boys

As testament to the diversity of the crowd, by the time my MUNI bus arrived at the park, I'd hooked up with a young blues guitarist from a liberal arts college in LA, a seasoned political campaign manager from Sacramento, and a veteran of San Francisco's Beat and Hippie days. But there's nothing like a monkey on a stick to catch a girl's attention!

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Bean Pie with her monkey, Dolly, and friend Andy in the Boston baseball cap.

Four stages were scattered through Golden Gate Park, which is closed to traffic, so a lot and a lot and a LOT of people came on their bicycles.

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Bike parking and BBQ smoke

Pretty much everything used by the food vendors was recyclable, an important touch when you're trying to save the planet.

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T-shirt logo featuring a popular East Bay-made organic energy bar.

In the end, I suppose I should be sad that with the harbor full of navy vessels here for Fleet Week--including the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz--and the air bristling with fighter jets as the aerobatic team the Blue Angels did their stuff, San Francisco's brightest and best wanted nothing more than to soak up some rays.

Golden Gate/Golden rays

rosalea.barker@gmail.com

--PEACE--

Weekend Magazine: Werewolf Issue 28

Gordon Campbell: Why State Capitalism Is Beating The Free Market

Late last month, the Economist magazine published a debate on state capitalism, in which it proposed that state-led market economies are fast becoming a global rival to the old models of liberal, free market capitalism. The chapter and verse it provided is indeed pretty impressive... More>>

Gordon Campbell: Human Rights, Pinochet And Asset Freezes An interview with Baron Collins of Mapesbury, recently retired judge from the British Supreme Court. Politicians are always tempted to take pot shots at judges, who have relatively few friends among the general public... More>>

Rosalea Barker: Undaunted Oakland It gets really tiring living in Oakland. Practically every television newscast is straight from the police blotter. Murders. Marches. Mayhem. Mayoral recall. (Oops! That last one’s from the OPD to-do list.) More>>

Lyndon Hood: The 'Other' People In Your Neighbourhood Under a pile of unused plastic spoons I happened to find an old tin of film. There was no clue as to its contents, and it was just made more mysterious by a note on the label… More>>