Celebrating the variety of body parts
Leah Garchik
The hungry i in North Beach has become a men's club, and Gar Smith thinks it ought to be renamed the horny i.
Meanwhile, Stan Lichtenstein was swimming at the Mariner Square Athletic Club in Alameda, and found himself alongside a very pregnant woman. When are you due? he asked. "Tomorrow," she answered. Lichtenstein looked surprised, even more so when the woman added this bit of friendly information: "Don't worry, my cervix is only three centimeters, and my doctor says it has to grow to 10 centimeters."
"I decided to leave the pool," e-mails Lichtenstein.
P.S.: Several lay architectural critics, including Anne Whetstone, have compared the unusual shape of the new cathedral in Oakland to a body part. For fear of offending anyone, I've hesitated to mention this. But Whetstone puts it gracefully: "I was thinking they could invite Eve Ensler to host the grand opening."
Mayor Gavin Newsom, who with his fiancee, Jennifer Siebel,attended Monday night's finals for the Steve Silver Foundation's "Beach Blanket Babylon" arts scholarships, stopped in before the show to wish contestants well. The mayor, who's been riding high on the recent same-sex marriage decision, learned that one of the student contestants is the child of two fathers; another is the child of two mothers. Both sets of parents are planning to marry later this month.
At a preshow reception where judges were gathering, I asked the San Francisco Opera's David Gockley about the talent-sorting process. The scholarship contest is something like an audition, before a panel of judges. In this case, they give scores; in shows like "American Idol" there are comments, too.
It can be useful to anyone auditioning, said Gockley, to receive constructive criticism. But "it takes courage to confront someone with something they may take the wrong way." Gockley has sometimes attempted this, aiming to provide "clear and concise" criticism "in a nice way." But it's a difficult job. "It's easy to say nothing," he said.
Judge Tracy Chapman said she's occasionally watched "American Idol," and if she were judging, she'd "be closer to Paula" Abdul. "She tends to be bright and positive." In auditions to select members of her band, she'll say something negative "only if someone comes in totally unprepared. Then they're wasting my time."
Rita Moreno, who as a singer/dancer/actress has probably the most applicable audition experience, said, "The most wounding thing in the world is 'thank you,' " especially the "thank you" that comes mid-performance. "It doesn't get any more wounding than that."
And Siebel, who has been a producer as well as an actress, and so has been both an auditioner and auditionee, said, "You know when they walk through the door. If they're not doing well, you check out. When they try too hard, it's not attractive. ... I learned that really quickly."
P.S.: The mayor, perhaps getting revved up for his wedding, seemed to be sporting new duds, including a taupe-colored suit and a heliotrope-colored tie. Constituents can be proud.
-- Ted Allen of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" had dinner at the Presidio Social Club on Friday night, and Janet Harvey says that Anthony Bourdain was at the Horseshoe bar in the Marina on Sunday. Earlier that day, Amy Hawke saw Benjamin Bratt shopping at Rainbow Grocery. "Next time I go to Rainbow," she says, "I'm heading there with a full face of makeup."
-- This item comes from within the glass house. Edward Epstein forwards a correction in last week's Washington Post: "A May 31 Metro article about the Scripps National Spelling Bee misspelled last year's winning word."
'Instant justice': After a violent 49ers game, the Eagles opened a stadium jail
Lenticular cloud atop Calif.'s Mount Shasta puts on day-long show
-- DJ Tiesto, who performed at Ruby Skye recently, dined beforehand at Fleur de Lys, exchanging recipes with DJ/chef Hubert Keller. The gents share two passions: spinning and cooking.
-- The first drag queen ever to speak at the Commonwealth Club will be Donna Sachet on June 23, for Pride Month.
-- Family matters: In Santa Cruz, Bradley Joseph Locotelli, grandson of beat icons Neal and Carolyn Cassady, was born Thursday. And a formal announcement from Ray and Dagmar Dolby (he's the sound genius; she's the NARAL activist) tells of the engagement of their son, novelist Thomas Dolby, 33, to writer Andrew Frist, 25, son of Ellen and Robert Frist of Indianapolis.
Author escort David Golia, who was working at a Kabuki Sundance theater book-signing event for author Chuck Palahniuk, says that "Sex and the City" was showing at another theater in the complex. Golia passed by a woman on her cell phone, telling her friend where to find her. "No, you're in the wrong line," said the woman. "Those people are waiting for some author guy. Didn't you see their gross shoes?"
Public eavesdropping
"I don't have a dad. I have a donor."
One boy to another - do donors get ties on Father's Day? - overheard in a kindergarten class by T.A. Francis
If travel planning gives you a headache, try these apps
The best vegan and vegetarian meal kits for a meat-free 2023
Reach Leah on
Leah Garchik washed up on the shores of Fifth and Mission in 1972, began her duties as a part-time temporary steno clerk, and has done everything around The Chronicle including washing the dishes (her coffee cup). Over the years, she has served as writer, reviewer, editor and columnist. She is the author of two books, "San Francisco: Its Sights and Secrets" and "Real Life Romance."
She is an avid knitter, a terrible accordion player, a sporadic tweeter and a pretty good speller.