Posts Tagged ‘cleveland’

Senator Leland Yee Leads the Fight Against Mandatory Phone Books

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Phone books – they’re useless, right? What are they good for? Absolutely nothing. I’ll say it again. Hooot! Absolutely nothing.

So let’s hear it for Dr. Leland Yee, Ph.D, Assistant Senate President pro Tempore Extraordinaire, the fightingest Senator in California, as he takes on the Telephone Book Industry on behalf of The People.

A brief wait on the doorstep for a few days until someone puts all these things into the recycling:

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Your days are numbered, you mandatory telephone books.

Read all about it:

San Mateo County Leaders and Environmental Advocates Call for Consumer Choice on White Pages
Yee and Papan: Mandatory delivery of white pages wastes paper, energy, and scarce local government resources

 
SACRAMENTO – Following the successful efforts of Cleveland, Ohio and Miami, Florida, California could become the largest jurisdiction to give telephone customers a choice in receiving the white pages directory.  Today, Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) and Millbrae Councilwoman Gina Papan announced they will pursue state legislation to prohibit telephone companies from delivering the white pages unless the customer opts-in to receiving it. 
 
“The requirement that phone companies must deliver the white pages comes from an era before the internet and other means of obtaining phone numbers,” said Yee.  “At a time when Californians are looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint, we should give them that choice, particularly when very few customers still use the white pages.”
 
“Ending the unnecessary distribution of the white pages is a step forward that we can take at the local level to address the global issue of climate change.  I am proud to take the lead on this issue to help save the environment and reduce local recycling costs,” said Millbrae City Councilmember Gina Papan.  “I would like to thank Senator Yee for his responsiveness in taking on this important legislation on our behalf.”  

All the deets, after the jump

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New at the de Young: Art and Power in the Central African Savanna

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

Here’s another great exhibit at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park – it’s Art and Power in the Central African Savanna. Read all about it courtesy of Nancy Ewart, the San Francisco Examiner’s S.F. Museum Examiner.

Check out this ugly customer. Well actually, it’s a mask for dancing, called a cihongo. Click to expand:

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And here are the people who helped to make this exhibit happen: Margaret Rinkevich, Bob Wall and Cleveland Museum of Art Curator of African Art Constantine Petredis, Ph.D.:

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Art and Power just opened. Look for it upstairs at the ‘zeum.

See you there!

San Francisco, March 2009––The de Young Museum presents Art and Power in the Central African Savanna, June 20 to October 11, 2009.  This exhibition explores the political and religious power of nearly 60 sculptures created by artists of four Central African cultures: the Luba, Songye, Chokwe, and Luluwa.  Carved primarily from wood, these power figures act as containers for magical organic ingredients and serve both religious and political purposes. According to traditional beliefs, the figures mediate between the human and spirit worlds to insure a healthy birth, successful hunt, or triumph over an enemy. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco director John Buchanan says, “This exhibition contains an extraordinary selection of rare works that will resonate dramatically with modern and contemporary tastes.  Additionally, it highlights the Museums’ renewed interest in art from Africa.”

Art and Power in the Central African Savannais organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art.  The San Francisco presentation is made possible by James and Patricia Ludwig, Bob Wall and Margaret Rinkevich, Lauren T. T. Hall and David Hearth, and Charles and Diane Frankel.  The organizing curator of the exhibition is Constantine Petridis, Ph.D., curator of African art at the Cleveland Museum of Art.  The presenting curator at the de Young is Kathleen Berrin, curator of African art and art of the Americas.  The de Young is the final venue for Art and Power.  Previously, the exhibition was at The Menil Collection in Houston September 26, 2008–January 4, 2009, and at the Cleveland Museum of Art March 1–May 31, 2009.  A fully illustrated catalogue by Petridis accompanies the exhibition and is available in the Museum Store.

de Young Visitor Information
The de Young, designed by Herzog & de Meuron and located in Golden Gate Park, showcases American art from the 17th through the 21st centuries, international contemporary art, textiles, and costumes, and art from the Americas, the Pacific, and Africa.

Address:
Golden Gate Park
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive
San Francisco, CA 94118

Hours:
Tuesday–Thursday, Saturday and Sunday: 9:30 am–5:15 pm
Friday: 9:30 am–8:45 pm
Closed on Monday

Admission:
$10 adults
$7 seniors
$6 youths 13–17 and students with a college I.D.
Members and children 12 and under are free
The first Tuesday of every month is free

Information:
www.deyoungmuseum.org; 415.750.3600

The de Young is accessible to wheelchair users. For information, contact the ADA Coordinator: 415.750.7645 (voice) or 415.750.3509 (TTY)

The Internet Has Gone Plumb Crazy Today in San Francisco

Monday, June 2nd, 2008

What’s up with that? Earlier today, people trying to read the SFWeekly got sent to Ohio’s Cuyahoga County, in a way. More precisely, their browsers got sent to Cleveland Scene. Did somebody hack on the pooooor Weekly? Was this some kind of joke against Ohio’s Mistake By the Lake or agin Village Voice Media? Now who would do a thing like that?  Thankfully, things are back to normal now.

But what about over at the San Francisco Sentinel? Some web surfers interested in learning about the people working for Proposition G and Lennar Corporation weren’t able to access this page. All they could see is “Not Found” and “Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn’t here.” Isn’t that a shame?

But through the miracle of the cache, here’s the missing webpage:

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After all, information wants to be free and available, doesn’t it? 

Wasn’t it Chairman Mao who said, “Let a hundred flowers bloom, let the hundred schools of thought contend”? It sure was. So, let’s stop all this internet fooferall and stop messing with peoples’ websites.

Capische?