TEXT LINK

[X]press Magazine Spring 2006 Holding up a mirror to Bay Area culture.
[ Story by [X]press staff writers ]
Wednesday, Mar 22 2006 12:53 PM

Political Dysentery Bathroom graffiti, or latrinalia, as it was classified by UC Berkeley professor of anthropology and folklore Alan Dundes, is a phenomenon that seems to flourish wherever there is an opportunity to drop your pants, drop a load and empty your mind. It is a chance to contemplate the meaning of desire, its cost and its end.
[ Story by Alejandro Alfonso ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 6:01 PM

Nuclear Lingerie Know anything about the increasingly strained relationship between Iran and the U.S.? No, we didn't think so.
[ Story by Omeed Rafizadeh ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 5:56 PM

Pronounced Zeen: What makes a Zine? What the heck makes a zine a zine, anyway? This article’s on zines, but I didn’t know a thing about them except for having a few high school friends who were into them. But the thing is, those kids back then were into Dungeons and Dragons, so I kinda kept my distance. What to do? Where to go?
[ Story by Sam Devine ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 5:51 PM

Getting to Know Kev Choice The 30-year-old musician’s late night affair is with his piano and microphone. The self-titled “Black Beethoven,” Choice is bringing a new tune to the music business. Think Mozart meets Miles Davis and chills with Mos Def along the way. His music embodies the skills of a classically trained pianist and an MC who spits so fast he might leave Twista tongue-tied.
[ Story by Jessica Jones ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 5:42 PM

Christ on the Rise She is perched atop the San Francisco underground worlds of drag performance and filmmaking. For 10 years she has fostered a loyal cult following with her bawdy on-stage persona and a run of well-received short films. But the future of Peaches Christ and her ultra-talented alter ego, Joshua Grannell, is a storyline yet to unfold. Prompted by his previous cinematic success and a desire to appeal to larger audiences, Grannell is putting the finishing touches on his first feature-length script. Though Peaches has starred in much of his earlier work, she won’t be a part of his newest film venture. So in the midst of his biggest challenge yet, Grannell must now balance his role as underground icon with his appetite for mainstream stardom.
[ Story by Raymond Deplazes ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 5:40 PM

Kickin' it in the Armory Raised in Oakland, the home base of the militant Black Panther Party in the 1970s, it was only natural that the city’s history of radical activism would inspire the front man of the political hip hop group to make revolutionary music.
[ Story by Zoneil Maharaj ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 5:34 PM

The Faith & the Fury Far from your typical Noe Valley yoga crowd, this loyal group of former fast-living punk rockers claim to have found an enlightened path through the practice of Buddhism and meditation. Inspired by the now-notorious Noah Levine, former druggie, ex-con and all around SF punk, who finally turned clean and sober after turning down the Eight Fold Path, scenesters are finding a way to grow old gracefully by giving up the brain-melting narcotics and still staying true to the music. The lifestyle offers both salvation and stylish inclusion, and made its founder, Levine, one rich gutter punk.
[ Story by erin feher ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 5:21 PM

Confessions of a Strip Mall Few people are aware that the Bay Street shopping center sits on top of the Emeryville Shellmound, which 2500 years ago was a large Ohlone village. It was a place where the tribe discarded everything from dinner scraps, shellfish in particular, to the deceased. Overtime this pile of waste became a large mound of, you guessed it, shells, as hints the name shellmound. Despite being designated a state registered landmark in 1939, Emeryville’s sacred grounds were no match for developers.
[ Story by kimberly turner ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 4:08 PM

Everyone Pays This place, like many in San Francisco, has been a haven for drug use and a bane to local residents and businesses for decades. The landlord can’t, or won’t, fix the building, and the tenants – many repeat drug offenders - find ways to stay mired in the underground world of San Francisco’s heavy drug culture.
[ Story by Sam Devine ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 4:03 PM

And They Lived Happily Ever After Luckily for garden gnomes everywhere, organizations across the globe are dedicated to the liberation of such poor creatures. Advocating to “end oppressive gardening,” such groups as Free the Gnomes and the Garden Gnome Liberation Front vow to rescue garden gnomes from captivity and give them freedom, even if that means trespassing on your property.
[ Story by Julia Dodge ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 3:59 PM

Graf on the Go All it takes is a piece of cardboard, an exacto knife, a can of spray paint and one of the rare empty spaces that hasn’t been infiltrated by corporate advertising. And an idea with the potential to change the gait of pedestrians, one to make them stop and think.
[ Story by Zoneil Maharaj ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 3:54 PM

The Secret Tunnels Under SF Almost everyone has heard something about the secret tunnels under San Francisco. And while some may say they are an urban legend and don’t exist, others are sure they do. There aren’t many still alive that are willing to share what they know. The younger generation has only heard rumors or whispers about them and the ones who do know would never admit it to a stranger. If there are any of these secret locations still around, they’re surely being used for things that are illegal or profitable, and therefore private.
[ Story by Amy Machnak ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 10:48 AM

Shady San Francisco Behind the grand facades of several buildings in the San Francisco Bay Area, lie shady little secrets that few know about. These locales once hid a past that has now been revealed…
[ Story by V. Alexandra de F. Szoenyi ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 10:43 AM

Buried Maritime In December 1849, a three-masted whaling ship called the Arkansas blew ashore onto Alcatraz Island and was later towed onto a beach in the breezy waterfront neighborhood now known as the Barbary Coast. By 1851, a door was cut into the ship’s hull and it was converted into the Old Ship Ale House. Like the 42 underground ships that local historians know about, the Arkansas stayed put as the city filled in around it. The ship continues as the Old Ship Saloon, its hull entombed in San Francisco soil to this day, buried proof of a rich history unknown even to many of its longtime dwellers.
[ Story by Erin Pursell ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 10:36 AM

Your Garbage may be a Work of Art There are thousands of trash artists in the Bay Area, that are not only making extravagant pieces of art to shock, but to also send a hidden political message to all who see it.
[ Story by Elly Swetz ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 10:27 AM

Under the Gaydar The Bench and Bar in Oakland is overflowing with men who are mistaken for coming to see female strippers but are only interested in going home with one another. Some of these men, though not all, refer to themselves as “homothugs.” In their baggy pants and New Era caps, they hardly fit the image of the stereotypical gay man. These men know how and where to find each other, though their hangouts are well hidden. They present themselves in complete visual contrast to the lives they lead and are forcing people to think outside the box of what it looks like to be gay.
[ Story by Summer Sewell ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 10:20 AM

Abandoned Lives Despite California’s Safely Surrendered Baby Law of 2001, designating hospitals and fire stations legal drop-off areas within 72 hours of birth, women are still leaving infants in dumpsters, trash bags and on doorsteps. Last month there were at least two cases in Northern California alone.
[ Story by Jennifer Grass ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 10:16 AM

The Penis Fly Trap In response to the outrageously high rate of sexual assaults in South Africa, a new anti-rape female condom was unveiled last August to serve as an attack dog against intruders…and it has teeth.
[ Story by Julia Dodge ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 10:14 AM

Rethinking Abuse There are fixed misconceptions about intimate partner abuse, one being that it occurs only between dominant men and subservient women. Under-researched and kept quiet in marginalized communities, lesbian intimate partner violence is ignored by the larger public, even though it is as prevalent as heterosexual abuse.
[ Story by Lesley Seacrist ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 10:08 AM

Wet, Hot & Naked If a resort atmosphere is what you desire, grab a Hank Williams album, take two non-drowsy Dramamine and head up to Harbin Hot Springs in rural Lake County. Its rambling, teal-green buildings are set back in the woods about two miles out of Middletown, and the clientele is an interesting mix of older hippies who have been coming to Harbin for years and young couples who want to try something new.
[ Story by Maria Trombetta ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 10:02 AM

The Secret Menu at In-N-Out If you truly consider yourself a burger connoisseur, then you no doubt have In-N-Out at the top of your list. This West Coast icon has made itself the favorite fast food locale for true burger lovers. The majority of their customers would say it’s because they consistently keep it fast, fresh and simple. But that’s only what they want you to think...
[ Story by Amy Machnak ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 9:58 AM

The Truth About Bottled Water Millions of Americans turn on their faucets everyday to bathe, cook and clean with water from public systems, yet they consistently buy bottled water for drinking. Most believe it’s because bottled water is purer than tap water. They could be wrong. In fact, a large portion of the bottled water being sold in the U.S. is actually equal to tap water – and sometimes worse.
[ Story by Amy Machnak ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 9:52 AM

Straight from the Streets In a world of blogs, MySpace posts for all the world to see and companies like MTV and Hot Topic packaging and marketing cookie cutter “edge” for consumers worldwide, can a true counterculture movement happen in modern day society?
[ Story by Amelia Gravagno ]
Tuesday, Mar 21 2006 9:37 AM