Neptune Landing

In a city that worships at the alter of the new, there's something infinitely comforting about respecting that which came before. The streetcars are a perfect example. MUNI, the shorthand for the San Francisco Municipal Railroad, honors its centennial birthday this year. One big celebration will take place this Sunday, November 11 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the San Francisco Railway Museum with early 20th century cars taking history-lovers down the new T line tracks. MUNI was born when voters approved a $2 million bond in 1909 that would insure a public system. Streetcars and cable cars had been operating since 1873 through the private enterprise of the Market Street Railway Company and later the much-maligned monopoly of the United Railroads. MUNI, however, gave the public a bit of an edge in deciding how they'd like their wheels to roll. The F Line, our only official streetcar line, glides from Fisherman's Wharf to the Castro and you can choose from the followin...

Is this the future of American Democracy? While the Massachusetts State Constitution is the oldest, continually-working constitution in the world (and the one that inspired the U.S. Constitution), the California equivalent is the longest one on the planet (aside from the nation of India and the state of Alabama). If voters have their say this time around, we in California, would tackle issues as varied as: Education funding (Proposition 30) Budget cycles (Proposition 31) Union dues (Proposition 32) Auto insurance (Proposition 33) Death penalty (Proposition 34) Human trafficking (Proposition 35) Prisoner sentencing (Proposition 36) Food labeling (Proposition 37) More Education funding (Proposition 38) Clean energy regulation (Proposition 39) Redistricting for state senators (Proposition 40) My head is dizzy and I'm a politics guy. These choices, mind you, do not include any of the SF City and County ballot measures or any candidate on the local or national le...

Things have been very pitched in San Francisco and around the U.S. recently: Halloween, the Giants' victory, the volatile and destructive weather, the lagging economy and of course, the campaign(s) and upcoming election. Being lucky to work outdoors, I've been quick to track strange animal and elemental behavior and ponder its relationship to the topics covered on NPR and FrontLine. Native American and Celtic philosophy doesn't sever the affairs of humans with that of our finned, furred and feathered brothers and sisters. Animals, plants and elemental forces are just persons in different forms. Photo by Francois Portmann As a fledgling "out" psychic, a particular situation keeps interrupting my dreams. It's the image of a snowy owl seated in a courtroom of crows. Now before you reach for that comment button warning me to get my ass home (before the land of fruits and nuts spoils me for good!), just do me a favor and observe if anything you have read h...