People are angry at the SFBG’s support of Mark Leno over Carole Migden in the 3rd Senate District race. Honestly, who gives a shit what a newspaper thinks these days? [SFist]

Speaking of government, Gavin Newsom vetoed an ordinance that would have mandated all City Hall meetings to be video or audio recorded. Will the Supes muster enough votes (8 needed) to overrule Mayor McHairball? Stay tuned! [Fog City Journal]

OH NOES! 18 MONTHS OF FORECLOSURES ON IRRESPONSIBLE BORROWERS MEANS THE SKY IS FALLING! OH NOES! OH NOES! OH NOES! [Curbed SF]

Butthurt taqueria owners don’t appreciate Comcast’s latest ads, at least when they’re in in proximity to their hallowed halls of lardy goodness. [Eater SF]

I like Mark Morford simply because declaring said like has the ability to make other people very, very angry. But I’m not certain about this week’s column. [SFGate]

5pm tonight is the latest meeting of the Board of Appeals, where they’ll likely convene to reject professional nutjob Jakkee Bryson’s latest appeal regarding the Hole in the Wall’s move. [SFist: Hole in the Wall Appeal Appealed: Request for "Glamorous Limp" of SOMA Neighborhood]

…because of all the free movies and concerts:

May Showtimes: 8:00 pm

Saturday May 17 SF Dolores Park THE WIZARD OF OZ

June Showtimes: 8:00 pm

Saturday June 7 SF Washington Sq. Park CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
Saturday June 28 SF Union Square ALL ABOUT EVE

July Showtimes: 8:00 pm

Saturday July 26 SF Dolores Park THE BREAKFAST CLUB

August Showtimes: 8:00 pm

Saturday August 9 SF Union Square BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID

September Showtimes: 8:00 pm

Saturday September 6 SF Washington Sq. Park IL POSTINO
Saturday September 20 SF Dolores Park O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?

October Showtimes: 8:00 pm
Saturday October 4 SF Union Square VERTIGO

SAN FRANCISCO
Dolores Park, Dolores and 19th
Washington Square Park, Union & Columbus
Union Square, Geary & Powell

Admission-Free Concerts!
Sundays, 2:00 p.m.
June 15 – August 17, 2008
Stern Grove
19th Ave. and Sloat Blvd., San Francisco

June 15
BOOKER T. JONES
BETTYE LAVETTE

June 22
SEUN KUTI AND EGYPT 80
Sila and the Afrofunk Experience

June 29
SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY
James Gaffigan, Conductor

July 6
ALLEN TOUSSAINT
Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue

July 13
RACHID TAHA
MC Rai

July 20
ALONZO KING’S LINES BALLET
Featuring Pharoah Sanders

July 27
VOICES OF LATIN ROCK
SambaDá

August 3
BAJOFONDO
SI*SÉ

August 10
ONE HAWAI’I
Featuring Na Leo, Ernie Cruz, Kaukahi, One Right Turn, and more

August 17
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA

Went to the Duran Duran show last night with my friends James and Matt, who was cool enough to handle the ticket purchasing for us, and also drive us out there and back. We had amazing seats, right-hand side of the stage all the way down front.

Duran Duran always put on a good show, but last night’s was fantastic. I think it helps to catch them at the start of a tour; coming off a two-week break they’d only played Vancouver and Seattle before heading here. Lighting and sound were good (my ears are still ringing) and I can’t complain about the set list though I’m increasingly disappointed with every tour that apparently Liberty, Medazzaland and Pop Trash have been declared the bastard children from which not a note shall be heard.

Matt!

I think the energy also had something to do with the size of the crowd. I heard officials talking about it on their radios and someone saying that they were near capacity; the venue can hold 12,500. Not a sellout but I’m willing to bet the last available seats were on the lawn so whatever. Looking at the venues they’re playing between now and before a show in New York’s Central Park at the end of May, this was probably the biggest audience of the tour.

All eyes were on the backup singer’s, erm, talents

The unexpected bit with a stage-rusher was hilarious. She took advantage of an open area near us that no one had been guarding all night to hop up on stage, and she was fast. The sax player and the guitar player saw her in time, knew who her target was and got out of her way. She latched on to Simon with all her might and it took three guards to peel her off. He was laughing and trying to get through the song, and just kept saying “She grabbed my ass!” and walked up to Nick to demonstrate with his hands.

James!

Oh, and that new guy: Dom Brown, their new guitarist, is adorable.

And now some random bitching.

The ushers/security/whatever were peevesome.

My seat was on the aisle, which meant that every now and then random people would come down as far as security would allow them to get a better view of the stage and take some pictures of the group. Fine. But then at one point in the evening this group of idiot women planted themselves there and would not leave. Even then I wouldn’t have been that annoyed with it except that every time I moved away from them one of their number would follow me and start shoving me whenever she wanted to take a picture. When I finally put my hand out to start pushing her away, the security/usher/whatever suddenly woke up and decided the ladies needed to go back to their seats. Yeah, thanks for waiting until I was ready to get physical to do that, sport. I don’t have a problem with people coming down to take a few pictures but sweetheart, if you wanted these cool expensive seats you should have bought them, now go back to your patch of lawn.

Later on, Matt is taking pictures like he’s been doing all night. Like I’ve been doing all night. Like James has been doing all night. Like the people next to us, behind us, and in each and every single row of the Sleeptrain Pavilion has been doing all night. All of a sudden, this little midget usher/security/whatever who has been standing in front of us all night long walks up to him and says he can’t take pictures any more. What the fuck, lady? Anyway, one of her co-worker quickly pulled her aside and seemed to tell her it was allowed and that was the end of that.

But even that couldn’t ruin my night. It was one of the best Duran Duran shows I’ve ever been to, with amazing seats and thanks again to Matt for making all of this happen.

Simon says goodbye at the end of the show

ProTip: While parking is free at Sleeptrain Pavilion, it has other lots offering parking closer to the gates for $20. The real benefit, though, is being able to drive out of the parking lot after the event in about 30 seconds, as compared to the hour-long snarl for the exit in the free section. It’s money well spent.

The Sword reports that Comcast and Playgirl are busy programming a gay porn pay-per-view offering that will be tested in San Francisco. Why? 1. Money. 2. No one has done it before, therefore: 3. Money.

San Francisco is San Francisco, SF or even The City if you’re feeling pompous enough. Calling it Frisco isn’t omgforbidden but speaking that word does taint its user as outlander hick.

On the other hand, I will think less of you if you use the following terms:

NoPa. The correct name for this neighborhood is Western Addition. Say it with me: Western Addition. NoPa is a name devised by real estate agents and fostered by outsider entrepreneurs who do not believe they can attract affluent clients by using the neighborhood’s actual and historical name. Why would they do that? Hard to tell. Someone more cynical than I might say it’s because Western Addition is a majority African-American neighborhood and that the term NoPa helps white people ignore the neighborhood’s history and demographic reality, and therefore anyone using it (who knows better) is a borderline racist asshole. But I won’t go there, because maybe the person saying NoPa is just a clueless recent transplant.

MiSo. No. If you live in this neighborhood you actually do have the benefit of using two different neighborhood names to suit your mood and/or audience. Why would you want something as silly-sounding as MiSo when you can legitimately choose between the Mission or SOMA?

TelHi. I rather think not. Telegraph Hill is the correct name of this very visible neighborhood, which is why the people who pay a premium to live there use the full, four-syllable name.

FiDi. I swear to god I will slap you if you say this in my presence. It’s the Financial District.

San Francisco is not Candyland, nor is it Manhattan. Every neighborhood does not need some cutesy, abbreviated sub-designation to help you immediately identify the specialness of where you live; we already have a system for that — they’re called intersections and addresses.

While I’m at it, a few more diminutives that are pissing me off:

Resto. No, it’s a restaurant.

Sando. I thought this was an affliction local only to certain idiots on Yelp, but I actually heard it in a popular North Beach deli the other day. The guy behind the counter look at its user and said “A what?” and the stuttering reply from the now red-faced and embarrassed customer was “Um…uh… a s-s-sandwich?” Yeah. That’s right. A sandwich. It was gratifying, for once, to see someone realize how stupid they sounded.

Stop infantilizing your words. You’re an adult, speak like one.

I love San Francisco, where we jump for joy at the mere hint of a possibility of a rumor that a Whole Foods could open up on the spot where an existing car dealership now stands. [Curbed SF]

Cindy Sheehan kicks off her campaign. [Fog City Journal]

Greg Dewar has a few good suggestions for taking care of the eternal Muni budget/management crisis… but since they’re based on a foundation of practicality and common sense, I can’t imagine anyone in San Francisco government would take them seriously. [The N-Judah Chronicles]

R.I.P. Moose’s, long live Joey & Eddie’s. [Eater SF]

Tesco is a British-based grocer with outlets around the world.

Their Thai subsidiary is… well, I’ll let the Times explain what they’re doing:

Tesco Lotus, which is 99 per cent owned by Tesco, is pursuing a civil action for £1.6 million against Kamol Kamoltrakul, a freelance journalist who earned £16 for his column in which he criticised the supermarket. A second journalist, Nongnart Harnvi-lai, is also being sued after concluding an article with the words: “Ha, Tesco Lotus doesn’t love Thais.”

Their U.S. subsidiary operates stores under the name Fresh & Easy, and they plan to open several outlets in San Francisco in the next year or so.

Given the information about the persecution of Thai journalists and citizens for simply expressing written criticism of their business, is this the type of company we want doing business in San Francisco?

Authors take on Tesco ‘tyrants’ over Thai legal action [Times Online]

For his landmark book, “Arizona Then and Now,” photographer Allen Dutton traveled across the state to recapture archival images from their exact original location. Watch as early century images transform into contemporary photography. Roll your cursor over the THEN image to reveal the exact location as it is NOW. [KAET]