Celebrity

Bernal Neighbor Becomes CEO of Glamorous Jazz Organization

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Neighbor Diane shares a tip that “a member of the Bernalwood tribe has taken on a CEO position in the SF music and cultural scene.”

Celebrity Alert! It seems Bernal Neighbor Donald Derheim, a skilled observer of Google Maps survey equipment, is leaving his executive gig at KQED to take the helm at SFJazz, in the sexy new SFJazz Center building on the corner of Franklin and Fell in Hayes Valley:

SFJAZZ, the leading nonprofit jazz organization on the West Coast, announced today that Donald Derheim will assume the position of Chief Executive Officer beginning January 2, 2014. Mr. Derheim joins SFJAZZ as it enters its next phase of growth and celebrates the milestone first anniversary of its new home, the critically acclaimed SFJAZZ Center. An accomplished media executive, Mr. Derheim served for more than two decades at public television and radio broadcaster KQED Inc. in San Francisco. In 2010, he was appointed Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President, where he was responsible for the strategic and operational oversight of one of the most popular public and financially successful media companies in the country.

Mr. Derheim will work closely with SFJAZZ Founder and Executive Artistic Director Randall Kline to fulfill the SFJAZZ mission. As part of his CEO responsibilities, he will oversee long-term planning and development for the organization to further engage its members and audiences and will focus on the success and financial performance of the newly built SFJAZZ Center. Mr. Derheim will play a critical role in the development and diversification of new and existing funding sources, including revenue streams based on new technologies.

Congratulations and represent, Neighbor Donald!

What Was That Glamorous Video Shoot on Cortland Yesterday?

/ Todd_Lappin

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O… M… G…!!!!

The Bernalnet was abuzz yesterday after several neighbors spotted a glamorous film shoot taking place on the western side of Cortland, around Wool Street. What was happening?

We asked John from Holy Water for the dish:

Laura, one of our Bernal locals, works for a production company and picked up a job from Uber Cab. Uber wanted a series of different shots from around SF, and Laura, being local, decided to use Bernal business. She filmed a scene in Holy Water, Liberty Cafe, and somewhere else in the Mission.

Later on in the day we did a quick shoot for a gin and vodka company.

Nice work, Neighbor Laura, for upping our Glamour Quotient!

PHOTO: Fliming in front of Holy Water, by Alex Bankoff

Bernal Neighbor Matt Nathanson Now On Tour, Working Hard, Rocking America

/ Todd_Lappin / 1 Comment

mattportland Natt Nathanson, Bernal’s friendly neighborhood rockstar next-door, has been away from home a lot lately. He’s on tour to support his new album, although he was back on-hill recently for a local swing to headline a glamorous show at the Fox in Oakland:

matt.headliner Somewhere around Portland, Neighbor Matt started taking selfies during each show, and sharing them on the Instagram. It’s kind of become a thing. Here’s one from that Oakland gig: matt.oakland This was Wednesday night in Denver: matt.denver Helloooooo Spokane! matt.spokane You get the idea. Of course, as much as Neighbor Matt makes it all look like party fun woo-woo, we all know he would much rather be here with us, earnestly sipping double-shot locavore lowfat organic soy latteccinos on Cortland and searching in vain for a shopping cart at our Taoist Safeway.

Instead he’s hard at work rocking America and rolling from city to city in a custom tour bus like the one in that wistful Journey video. We understand that he’ll be back sometime around Thanksgiving, at which point Bernalwood suspects he’d be very happy to take a selfie with you on the Good Life checkout line… Just like us!

PHOTOS: Matt Nathanson on Instagram

Bernal Neighbor Tim Redmond Will Launch New Progressive News Site

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Though he rarely brags about it, progressive journalist Tim Redmond and Bay Area media celebrity lives in Bernal Heights. For 31 years, Neighbor Tim edited the stalwart San Francisco Bay Guardian — until last June, when he parted ways with the Guardian’s new owners under rather unpleasant circumstances.

Since leaving the Guardian, Neighbor Tim has been conspiring to launch a new media project, which he finally revealed last week.

It’s called 48 Hills, and it has a mission statement:

Bernal. Potrero. San Miguel. Telegraph. There are 47 named hills in San Francisco – and as those of us who have spent their lives fighting for social and economic justice know, there’s always one more hill to climb.

That’s the genesis of 48hills, a new online publication that will report on, expose, and explore the ups and downs of a great city – the stories that don’t make the MSM, the adventures you’ve never heard of, the secrets of making this your home.

48hills will be a new kind of newspaper – the progressive daily that San Francisco has always needed. Not a blog, not a content aggregator, but a place where you can read original work by reporters and critics who know the city. Breaking news, analysis, investigative reporting, cutting-edge arts and culture … that’s 48hills.

We are a nonprofit venture, under the auspices of the San Francisco Progressive Media Center, with a community-based board and a mission to serve a city battered by evictions, displacement, and economic inequality. We are unafraid of controversy, proud of our politics, owned by no investors, driven not by profit but by a passion for journalism that matters.

According to the countdown timer on the site, 48 Hills plans to launch sometime around the end of October.

ILLUSTRATION: Tim Redmond Is Watching Downtown, via Bernalwood

Celebrity Magazine Celebrates Art Collection of Celebrity Bernal Neighbor

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In addition to claiming several famous rockstars as residents and providing a glamorous background for indie music videos, Bernal Heights is also home to meta-rockstar Jordan Kurland of Zeitgeist Artist Management and San Francisco’s much-loved NoisePop music festival.

This week, 7×7 Magazine published an article about Neighbor Jordan’s music-themed art collection:

Growing up in Chicago in the ’70s and ’80s, Jordan Kurland’s bedroom walls were plastered with posters of Michael Jordan and The Who. While this teenage practice of Scotch-taped decor is fairly common, less expected is the transformation of that dedication to visual pop-culture stimuli into a full-fledged art collection. In Kurland’s case, such an impressive assembly of witty street art and classic rock-and-roll photography is a natural extension of his successful music career.

“I started with works from up-and-coming artists who were designing concert posters for Noise Pop,” says the Bernal Heights resident, who cofounded the San Francisco indie-music festival in 1993. “I was just trying to get stuff up on my walls.” In his quest to fill blank spaces, Kurland—who also helms Zeitgeist Artist Management, an agency that represents such celebrated acts as Death Cab for Cutie and the New Pornographers—acquired early graffiti-inspired pieces by the likes of Noise Pop contributors Thomas Campbell, William Swanson, and Shepard Fairey, all now firmly established in the art world.

PHOTO: Jen Siska/7×7

New Song by Neighbor Jeremy Passion Is Rather Gorgeous

/ Todd_Lappin / 7 Comments

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It’s a turning out to be a busy week for Bernal Heights rock stars.

Neighbor Jeremy Passion Manongdo is a singer-songwriter who was born and raised in Bernal, and he still calls Nevada Street home. He checked in with us this week to share the video for his new song, “Suddenly,” and we’re glad he did because it is fabulous:

My name is Jeremy Passion and I’m a 26 year old Bernal Heights native that has always loved the city. I am a singer/songwriter/producer, and I’ve released a new song entitled “Suddenly” and it takes place in SF! There are many shots of Bernal Heights and the surrounding neighborhoods and would love for you to take a listen. I am very proud of how this video turned out, and I’m excited to share the beauty of our city with the world. Thank you for taking time to listen.

Your Bernalwood editor has had “Suddenly” on heavy rotation for the last 24 hours, and it just keeps getting better and better and better. It made me smile. It will make you smile. Give a listen, and if you like, get yourself a copy from the iTunes or the Google play:

PHOTO: Jeremy Passion via Jeremy Passion

Neighbor Matt Nathanson Releases a Big New Album Today

/ Todd_Lappin / 7 Comments

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Today is a big day for Matt Nathanson, Bernal’s celebrity rockstar next door.

Around here, he’s Neighbor Matt, a musician from the southeast side of the hill who often draws creative inspiration from walks around the neighborhood. (Just like us!!)  Last March, he told Bernalwood:

Oh man, Bernal Heights IS my muse: Walking the hill, writing at Progressive Grounds, eating breakfast at Precita Park Cafe or Moonlight. I am a card carrying Bernal Heights superfan, and most of the lyrics for this record were written here. When I’m not on tour, I am hard-pressed to leave the 94110.

That’s the Neighbor Matt we know here in Bernal. But beyond our hill, he is MATT NATHANSON, a singer-songwriter with a successful career, a nationwide following, and legions of fans who say things like:

And…

And…

And…

Now, you’re probably wondering: What exactly is a Matt Nathanson kind of morning? Is it kind of foggy, with chance of sun by noon? Does it taste like a Sandbox Bakery croissant? Does it involve wearing a nylon track suit and taking a dog for a walk while carrying a little plastic bag to pick up the business?

We have no idea. But this is a small sampling of tweets about Neighbor Matt from just the last 72 hours, so you get a sense of his wow-power.

Anyway, this is a very very big day for Neighbor Matt, because he’s officially releasing his new album today. It’s called The Last of the Great Pretenders, it was recorded in Noe Valley, and it contains a lot of San Francisco allusions, as he told Bernalwood back in March:

On past records, I think I’ve been too self-conscious to write lyrics that were super-specific to my own life. I felt safe in the vague. With this record, I really wanted to dig in to the places I know and the places where I live. It definitely became a VERY San Francisco record.

USA Today just gave The Last of the Great Pretenders three out of four stars, so he’s off to a good start. The 52 Weeks of Music blog writes:

I love that [Last of the Great Pretenders] is a tribute to the love [Matt Nathanson] has for his town, San Francisco.  He has found the extraordinary in the ordinary.  It reminds me to take a look at what is good in my life and my town and embrace the beauty of it all.  To see beyond any pain. To let in the new.  To find the good. To embrace change.  This album has a depth and a story.

Later today, Neighbor Matt will be at Amoeba Records on Haight to do a free show starting at 5:30. Then, to support the album, he will embark on a nationwide tour so ambitious and far-flung that just looking at the schedule makes me feel homesick.

For now, though, let’s just say congratulations to Neighbor Matt on the new record, and let’s keep a candle burning for him here in Bernal Heights as he roams across the nation from stage to stage, like a Cortlandia version of Steve Perry in that wistful old Journey video.

Speaking of videos… here’s the big single from Neighbor Matt’s new album, chock full o’ local flavor:

And here’s another song from the album. It’s called “Kinks Shirt.” If this article is to be believed, it’s all about a cute waitress at Toast Eatery on 24th Street in Noe Valley:

PHOTO: Top, Matt Nathanson from Neighbor Matt. Below, album montage via 52 Weeks of Music. 

Glamorous TV Shoot Brings Taye Diggs to Bernal Heights

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

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Bernal Heights was aflutter yesterday morning, as a film crew was spotted shooting a big-budget production on the north side. So! Completely! Glamorous!

But what were they shooting?

Neighbor Jenna tracked down the details:

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Here’s what Deadline Bernalwood Hollywood has to say about “Murder in the First,” which will air on TNT:

Boss‘ Kathleen Robertson and Private Practice‘s Taye Diggs have been tapped as the leads in Murder In The First, TNT’s drama from NYPD Blue co-creator Steven Bochco. Co-created by Bochco and Eric Lodal, Murder In The First is a murder mystery set in contemporary San Francisco. Said to be in the vein of The Killing, it centers on two SFPD homicide detectives, Terry Seagrave (Diggs) and Hildy Mulligan (Robertson), as they take on a case that seems more like a maze.

Or maybe… a labyrinth???

PHOTO: Filming on Alabama, by @donderheim

Alemany Farmers Market Superstar Jackie Jones Recovering from Bad Fall

/ Todd_Lappin / 10 Comments

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When we last saw Bernal resident and Alemany Farmers Market celebrity musician Jackie Jones, she had just completed a glamorous cameo in a new music video by Thao Nguyen. Yet during a visit to the Farmer’s Market last weekend, Bernalwood was sad to learn that Jackie is out of commission after suffering a fall that left her with a broken foot and a hurt knee.

The accident happened two months ago, we are told, and Jackie is recovering well. With luck, she’ll be back in action within a few weeks. But in the meantime, another awesome Bernal Neighbor was out on Saturday with a big pad of paper and a set of markers, encouraging Jackie’s many Junior Fans to write get well notes for her.

Of course, Bernalwood’s Cub Reporter is a member of the Precita Valley Chapter of the Jackie Jones Fan Club, so she was eager to send Jackie get-well vibes:

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And while the Cub Reporter added a bonus rainbow, Bernalwood supplied our best wishes as well:

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On behalf of all the Citizens of Bernalwood, we hope you feel better soon, Jackie! The Farmer’s Market is great, but it just isn’t the same without this:

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

Star Sighting: Neighbor Markus, Fresh from the Set of “Good Morning America”

/ Todd_Lappin / 7 Comments

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Yesterday I walked into Harvest Hills Market  to buy some raspberries, and who did I see? Neighbor Markus!

Of course, he’s Neighbor Markus to us. But to the rest of the world, he’s Markus Spiering, head of product at Flickr, the venerable online photo-sharing service that’s owned by Yahoo.

Flickr rolled out a dramatic (and critically acclaimed) redesign this week, and on Tuesday Neighbor Markus was in New York City to do an appearance on Good Morning America — right alongside Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. (Sizzle!)

Yet on Wednesday, there he was: Neighbor Markus, buying some fruit and a loaf of bread at Harvest Hills… just like us!

Seriously though; Flickr’s new redesign was long overdue, but the final result was well worth the wait. If you haven’t seen Neighbor Markus’s handiwork yet, you should take a peek at the new, improved Flickr

And if you happen to see Neighbor Markus strolling in the neighborhood, give the dude a big high-five. He’s earned it.

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

Music Video from Thao Nguyen Connects Bernal to Brooklyn

/ Todd_Lappin / 7 Comments

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Hot on the heels of yesterday’s candid discussion about the impact of gentrification in Bernal Heights, here’s an item that’s both appropriately inappropriate and inappropriately appropriate.

Songwriter Thao Nguyen is currently enjoying some much-deserved success in the indie scene. She doesn’t live in Bernal, but she has strong ties to us; she lives in San Francisco, her management company is a Bernal-owned business, and she did a glamorous photo shoot on Bernal Hill last August.

The hit from Thao’s new album is a song called “We the Common,” and it’s rather terrific. For the Citizens of Bernalwood, the best way to enjoy it is by watching the video, which interweaves hilltop scenes from Bernal Heights with screetscape scenes from Brooklyn — a place which is in some ways the Bernal Heights of New York, but even more so.

Plus, the video includes a cameo by NPR celebrity Ira Glass! (Swooooon!)

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Plus plus, the video includes a cameo by Bernal celebrity Jackie Jones!

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Thao’s video makes the cultural affinity between Bernal and Brooklyn look seamless and more than a little glamorous. And it does all that with an infectious hook that’s really so now right now — just like us. Listen, watch, and enjoy:

UPDATED: Star Sighting! President Barack Obama Over Bernal Heights

/ Todd_Lappin / 4 Comments

The skies over Bernal Heights may have played host to another glamorous visitor today: President Barack Obama!

POTUS is in town for a series of fundraisers, and this morning Anthony Brown, Bernal’s celebrity penguinologist, looked up from his home to see two Sea Knight helicopters flying in formation over our cozy airspace.

Was Obama on board one of them? Obama was in town this morning, so it’s possible!

If he was airborne over Bernal, we can be quite confident that Obama was looking down, smiling wistfully, and imagining how glorious it would be to take his dog Bo for a run on Bernal Hill with Michelle, Malia, and Sasha. Or maybe he was thinking about how fantastic it would be to drop by Paulie’s to get a jar of those famous pickles straight from the source.

Or maybe not.

Maybe those twin-rotor helos were just carrying his support team, while Obama flew aboard his single-rotor Black Hawk. *sigh*

UPDATE: 4 April, 1:30 pm

Perhaps Obama DID fly over Bernal Heights! Neighbor Kevin snapped this photo which shows the single-rotor Marine One helicopter visible in the middle.

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Neighbor Kevin says:

I took it from my balcony/house on Ripley.  So, if the president looked a little to his right he had a great view of Bernal.

… at which point POTUS no doubt paused to daydream of frolicking with Bo and the family on Bernal Hill, and the zesty crunch of a Paulie’s Pickle.