To be a merchant on Cortland Avenue in 2012 is kind of like being a New Wave band in 1983: Apparently, if you want to get ahead, you’ve gotta have a video.
In that spirit, Anda’s Piroshkis and Big Dipper Baby Food, two tenants of the 331 Cortland marketplace, recently commissioned their own promotional videos, and both businesses turned to filmmaker Justin Jach to get the job done:
There’s a new kid on the block. The Portola Planet is a new blog dedicated to covering The Portola, a neighborhood that reliable sources tell us lies on the other side of I-280, immediately to the south of glamorous Bernal Heights.
Moreover, in much the same way that Bernalwood loves, loves, loves looking at photos of Bernal Hill, The Portola Planet apparently loves looking at photos of The Portola — even if that means climbing Bernal Hill to get the job done.
The photo above is fascinating, because it shows what a Portolan sees when they look south:
Turning my back on our majestic city I realized [Bernal Hill] is also a fantastic viewpoint for our own hidden neighborhood. I took a few photos and here is one (with a few landmarks highlighted) which shows the Portola as the great little city suburb that it is.
Ah! Wow! I get it! All that sprawling, buildingy stuff visible from atop Bernal Hill corresponds to local, familiar places if you live in The Portola. Who knew???
Thus enlightened, Bernalwood would like to warmly welcome The Portola Planet to the cybersphere, and we kindly remind them to please stay off our lawn.
PHOTO: Portola Planet
A new journalism project that was born in Bernal Heights is getting lots of nationwide buzz. And no, despite what you’re probably thinking… it’s not Bernalwood. The project is called Matter, and it was co-founded by Bernal Heights resident Jim Giles.
Matter is a fledgeling journalism startup that wants to be something like an indie record label for great writing. The difference is, instead of producing earnest pop songs written by bearded men who wear a lot of flannel, Matter will commission, edit, and market New Yorker– or Atlantic-style long-form nonfiction writing focused on science and technology topics. Matter will then sell these articles via all the usual online marketplaces — iTunes, Amazon, Nook, whatever. Here’s the mission statement:
The web is the future of journalism, but let’s be honest: the future isn’t living up to expectations. Newspapers and magazines have cut back on in-depth reporting. Gossip sites have proliferated. The web has become a byword for fast and cheap. Why isn’t it synonymous with fearless, investigative and enthralling writing?
We think it can be.
We’ve developed a way to support independent, global, in-depth reporting about science and technology, two subjects that are close to our hearts. We’re going to use it to build MATTER, the new home for the best journalism about the future.
To get the venture off the ground, the Neighbor Jim and the Matter team have launched a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter that has been going rather swimmingly. Matter hoped to raise $50,000, but instead they’ve already raised more than $100,000, with two weeks remaining in their drive. Woo-hoo!
Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent, Matter has sparked lots of heated discussion about the future of journalism under Matter’s pay-per-article, a-la-carte business model. Will it work? Watch these two media pundits do battle over the question from the lofty heights of a New York high-rise:
… and so on. Matter is an exciting project, and I think it has the potential to be very successful — on its own terms. So stay tuned, and be proud, because the future is being invented right here in Bernal Heights.
Jessica Battilana is a local food writer who has penned articles for 7×7, Sunset, Martha Stewart Living, and Gastronomica. Recently, in an otherwise positive review of the new Sandbox Bakery spinoff at 903 Cortland, Ms. Battilana wrote:
We can thank Sandbox Bakery–and owner Mutsumi Takehara–for many things: miso-filled buns, hot dogs wrapped in brioche, saving Bernal Heights from its food-desert status.
Hmmmm. Upon reading this, Neighbor Beth from the Bernalwood Culinary Self-Defense Forces took umbrage…. and sprang into action. Beth’s back-channel exchange with Ms. Battilana transpired follows:
FEB 15, 2012 | 03:48PM EST
Beth wrote:I take strong issue with TT’s statement that “We can thank Sandbox Bakery–and owner Mutsumi Takehara–for many things: miso-filled buns, hot dogs wrapped in brioche, saving Bernal Heights from its food-desert status.” Food desert? in less than half a mile we have 4 Zagat-rated restaurants, the 331 Marketplace – which has 3 articles on Tasting Table, Avedano’s Market, the Good Life grocery, as well as many other decent, casual places to eat. Has the writer ever actually BEEN to Bernal?
Beth’s note prompted this response from Ms. Battilana:
FEB 19, 2012 | 07:24PM EST
Jessica B. replied:Hi Beth,
Thanks for your note. I appreciate you taking the time to write. I have actually spent quite a lot of time in Bernal, and while I agree that Avedano’s and 331 are both bright spots, I still think the neighborhood has a long way to go, at least restaurant-wise. Food desert is hyperbolic, of course; I do understand that there are, as you say, many decent, casual places to eat. But a place as great as Bernal deserves more interesting, dynamic, food, like what Sandbox (and now 903) have brought.
Thanks again for reading, and for writing. And if there’s anything else in Bernal that you think I should check out, please let me know!
Well, gentle readers… is there anything that you would like Ms. Battilana to know?
PHOTO: Jessica Battilana
Neighbor Ashley Wolff has a new children’s book that’s just been released, and it was created right in here in Bernal Heights:
I wanted to share the news that my new picture book is out at last. Baby Bear Sees Blue was conceived, designed, and executed at my studio on the 300 block of Highland Ave, the home of the magnificent palm tree.
Red Hill Books on Cortland just ordered copies of Baby Bear Sees Blue, and he has a Facebook page now with insider info that my fellow Bernalistas and dudes will want to know.
Here’s what the critics have to say about the book:
Inspired by the mother bear and cub in Blueberries for Sal, Wolff creates a gentel story for toddlers that introduces colors and images from the natural world…. Wolff’s lovely compositions feature inked linoleum block prints that render those bears a strinkingly deep, matte black. Lush, washy watercolors illuminate the scenes–colors in the downpour’s puddles reflect a rainbow. Curious Baby Bear is 100-percent toddler, and Wolff skillfully captures both the bear-ish…and the human…. Imbued with a spirit of exploration, fostered by parental protection, Baby Bear’s colorful adventures will enrich repeat bedtime read-alouds.” –Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2011
* “Wolff’s watercolor-tinted linocuts make each page of this story simultaneously cozy and dramatic—cozy because they star a fuzzy bear cub and his mother, and dramatic because each one contrasts dark shapes with washes of light and color…. Children will be absorbed by the complex textures of Wolff’s linocuts, the Japanese woodblock–style graded shades of the sky, and the reassuring comfort of a world that is always safely guarded by Mama Bear.” –Publishers Weekly, December 5, 2011, *STAR
Right ON! And hey, and what’s a book these days without a video trailer? Like the book, this one is beautiful:
Neighbor Jon contacted us via the Twitter yesterday with this hot news flash:
http://twitter.com/jmooallem/statuses/170213703818547200
O-M-G! HGTV’s “Curb Appeal!” Fliming on Bocana! So where are the photographs of glamourous celebrity hosts and tasty Craft Services food trucks? We asked Neighbor Jon to zap his paparazzi photos to us. He sent us this bizarre reply:
“I was phone-less!”
The Bernalwood Newsroom was stunned. Whuuuuuuut? Phoneless? In the twenty-first century? How sad. How befuddling.
Instead, Neighbor Jon sent us a “before” photo of the house that’s getting the Curb Appeal makeover. So watch that space, to see how the makeover goes down.
PHOTO: Neighbor Jon
The TV people from CBS5 Eyewitness News saw the Bernalwood story this week about the problem we face with sleazy contractors and other forms of human lowlife dumping huge piles of trash at the foot of Bernal Hill. CBS5 sent a crew over to do a story about it, and along the way that prompted The City to clean up the mess ASAP. (Thank you, DPW!)
But the bad news is… it seems there’s not much that can be done to address the problem in the long term. A video camera might work once or twice, but thereafter the vermin are likely to either disable the camera or hide their license plates. Regardless, it might be worth a try, eh?
I can’t embed the video here, but click to view the CBS5 video about Bernal’s illegal dumping problem.
PHOTO: Neighbor Regina
You heard about it here first (natch), but Bernal Heights author and Bernalwood contributor Elizabeth Weil’s new book, “No Cheating, No Dying,” is now available for sale at a bookstore near you.
In between, Liz has been engaged in an open relationship with the traditional media to help spread the word about the book. Let’s review some highlights.
Of course all couples are different, but what would you say are the most essential ingredients for a good marriage?
You have to like each other … and keep liking each other every day. And you have to remember that your spouse isn’t nearly as predictable as you think he or she is.
The San Francisco Chronicle said:
In “No Cheating, No Dying,” her astonishingly intimate, hilariously self-deprecating, vibrant and thoroughly modern memoir, San Francisco author Elizabeth Weil goes where no man and few women have gone before – deep, deep, deep into the quotidian agonies and ecstasies of a highly volatile yet solidly committed marriage.
In Slate, Liz said:
Slate: What was the most useful thing you learned from the marriage improvement project?
Weil: Our marriage is our marriage, and we need to have the best marriage for us. With a wedding, you sort of start down this road, from this more collective fantasy. But then ultimately there you are with the person you love in your little house, and you need to build the life that’s right for you.
Our very own “weird little borderline utopia” here in Bernal Heights makes an appearance on the front page of today’s Los Angeles Times, in an article about the unique (and fabulous) Bernal Bucks local currency program.
The LAT article begins thus:
Coiled around a wind-swept hill near this city’s lively Mission District, Bernal Heights takes an almost cult-like pride in being insular.
With a butcher, grocer, bookstore and bakery, the neighborhood provides the basics. When you add to that some unique establishments — like an organic baby food outlet and a knife-sharpening venture offering classes in Japanese whetstone techniques — many residents say they rarely feel the urge to leave.
“It’s this weird little borderline utopia,” said Ken Shelf, 42, who runs a combination movie-rental and succulent store here. His home, business, favorite shops and kids’ school are all within a five-block radius.
Now, Bernal Heights is taking its experiment in localism one step further, adopting what is believed to be the country’s first “complementary currency” in the form of a debit card.
Designed by two neighborhood loyalists versed in technology and banking, the Bernal Bucks card allows residents to pay for their purchases while earning credits every time they swipe it at any of the two dozen area businesses that have signed on since June.
Accrued as frequent-flier miles are, the bucks can be printed as coupons and used toward future purchases. Cardholders also can donate their accrued “wealth” to neighborhood nonprofits.
Here’s a close-up of that front-page image. So glam!
Read the whole article here. Bonus LA Times photo gallery from their visit to the ‘wood, here.
Want to get your very own Bernal Bucks card? What are you waiting for???
Here’s a fun little media moment: The bizarre, mutant Molvo, that unholy Miata-Volvo crossbreed built by those handy gents from the Bernal Dads Racing Team, had a nice little cameo yesterday on the Jalopnik blog — which, in automotive terms, is kind of like appearing on the pages of InStyle magazine.
Rakish derriere, non?
Over the holiday, I discovered “Portlandia” on Netflix (It’s available for Instant View). Two things about the show stood out for me:
But what is “Portlandia?” There’s a nice writeup about the show in the current issue of the New Yorker:
“Portlandia” presents a heightened version of [Portland’s] twee urbanity: a company sells artisanal light bulbs, a hotel offers a manual typewriter to every guest, and a big local event is the Allergy Pride Parade. The mayor, played by Kyle MacLachlan, becomes an object of scandal when he’s “outed” as the bass guitarist in a middle-of-the-road reggae band. (The real Portland’s mayor, Sam Adams, who is openly gay, plays MacLachlan’s assistant on the show.) Armisen and Brownstein, wearing anthropologically precise wigs and outfits, portray most of the main characters: bicycle-rights activists, dumpster divers, campaigners against any theoretical attempt to bring the Olympics to Portland, animal lovers so out of touch that they free a pet dog tied up outside a restaurant. (“Who puts their dog on a pole like a stripper?”) Many characters recur, and, because they often seem to know one another, their intersections from sketch to sketch give the show the feel of a grownup “Sesame Street.”
“Corlandia” “Portlandia” is excruciatingly funny, very spot-on, and highly recommended. Want a preview? Try this:
While you were resting and relaxing and not really paying attention to the media over the holiday, Bernalwood’s glamour-obsessed editorial team kept a vigilant eye on the news wire. Here’s one mention you may have missed.
In the Bay Area print edition of the New York Times on Christmas Day, Bernal Heights got another shout out, this time for the semi-secret Dogpatch-Miller Garden on the east side.
The east slope of Bernal Hill, which was settled in the 1860s by Irish farmers and dairy ranchers, has stayed true to its roots and now has an abundance of community gardens utilizing the steep hillsides, including this 8,750-square-foot spot. There are 35 city-owned community gardens in San Francisco, overseen by the Parks and Recreation Department and run by volunteers.
NOMENCLATURE
The garden’s official name comes from the streets it lies between, but locals know it by other names. It is most commonly referred to as Miller Memorial Grove, named for Roosevelt Miller, a friendly old-timer who is now deceased. The green space is also known as Dogpatch, a local nickname that preceded the Miller moniker and refers to its former life hosting neighborhood dogs.GRASS-ROOTS VICTORIES
Snaking below the garden, narrow Brewster Street was developed in the mid-1990s after residents complained about fire trucks not being able to get through. Residents agreed to sweep the newly paved street themselves to avoid parking hassles.HIVE OF ACTIVITY
Flowers, fruit trees, vegetables and succulents cover the 20 plots of this hillside garden. A rustic sign at the top announces: “This is a nice neighborhood garden.” A six-tiered wooden beehive also shares the land.
More where that came from, right here.
PHOTO: Dogpatch-Miller Garden Sign by Steve Bowles
Most of us spend so much time in front of screens these days that newspapers are starting to seem downright quaint. Which is why this sign, spotted recently on Eugenia, filled my heart with sadness and made me yearn for sunny Sundays of yore, when I would linger over the New York Times with a big mug of coffee.
Surely a Bernalwood denizen who is committed to carving out the time to get his or her fingers smudged on the Sunday Times — someone, moreover, who uses “whomever” correctly — (even if he or she, like this writer, needs to review the “whoever” vs. “whomever” rule) should not be deprived of this pleasure. It’s all the news that’s fit to print, not pilfer.
Bernalwood 