$20 million Music City aims to shoot SF back to the top of the charts

By JOSHUA ROTTER : 48hills – excerpt

Rock impresario Rudy Colombini launches mega-studio, artist accelerator, and Hall of Fame for renewed glory days.

San Francisco’s Rudy Colombini believes his native city could again be a music capital. 

The Unauthorized Rolling Stones’ frontman and real estate developer is so convinced of this that he’s put his capital where his mouth is—to the tune of over $20 million—to revamp his “Plug N’ Play” rehearsal studio, Music City San Francisco, into a world-class star factory, music hub, and artist accelerator.

“I don’t want to aggrandize Music City, but Music City does something for an artist that no other institution I know of in the country does,” says Colombini.

What that is, he says, is putting everything an artist needs to thrive under one roof…(more)

BIG KAHUNA GETS TROLLED

Earlier this week,Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff sent a fond congratulations to Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan for jumping into the hotly contested mayor’s race. “WOW! TAN 2024!” tweeted Benioff, followed by three heart emojis, in response to an apparent campaign video. The problem? The “campaign” video—featuring what appeared to be an AI Barack Obama voice laid over shots of San Francisco—was the creation of the X troll @CrookeJenkins, an account that spoofs District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. Benioff deleted his post after Tan replied with an explanation; the account also claims to have tricked tech journalist Kara Swisher.

Seriously, Benioff should know better. Where has be been lately?

New art mystery twist: How did this lost Lochakov turn up in DC?

By Julie Zigoris : sfstandard – excerpt

It’s one of San Francisco’s great art mysteries—how did 38 artworks by a Jewish artist from the famed School of Paris end up on a park bench halfway around the world, more than 80 years after their creator died in the Holocaust?

The Standard was the first to break the story about an unlikely trove of artworks discovered in Crane Cove Park in 2022, tracing a line from their creation in Paris to a framing shop Huntsville, Alabama, to their ultimate resting place in San Francisco—a path that traveled through the artist Ary Arcadie Lochakov’s extended family ties.

But there’s a new chapter in this continuously unfolding story, one that raises even more questions about the artworks’ posthumous journey. One month before Lochakov’s pieces appeared on a cement bench in the Dogpatch, a professor and art hunter in Washington, D.C., secured his own Lochakov painting—this one purchased online via a Goodwill store in South San Francisco…(more)

Ghosts of artists from the past that live on through the antics of unknown characters who appear to be somewhat nefarious. Whatever their intentions are, they are bringing a new life to otherwise lost art and creating quite a stir among art historians.

The battle of Balboa Terrace: It’s artists vs. homeowners in a feud over one man’s museum

By Julie Zigoris : sfstandard – excerpt

Tom would have loved to have had Beaux Arts endowed with an historic status, like the one Gregangelo Herrera is applying for. His Gregangelo Museum has an excellent chance of being so ordained, given the wide-spread support he has. The blessing District Supervisor Melgar should ensure success as she Chairs the Supervisors Land Use and Transportation Committee. It is good to see that fun coming out in full regalia to celebrate what we are trying to preserve of our fair City by the Bay. I”ll have to go shoot some photos and looking the tea service soon.
Visit the Museum

Room 400 of San Francisco’s City Hall on March 20 had the makings of an SNL sketch. On one side, a band of 50 merry artists in bright dress, voicing heartfelt stories about their whimsical leader and his magical lair. On the other, scowling neighbors in nondescript clothes, rattling off complaints about traffic, trash and changing “neighborhood character.”

A profound chasm divided the two groups, even as the same source brought them into the room together: the 40-year-old Gregangelo Museum, which was being considered by the Historic Preservation Commission for an official city landmark designation.

The museum—a weird, whimsical, exploding-with-creativity art oasis hidden away in San Francisco’s leafy, suburb-quiet Balboa Terrace—is not any ordinary cultural hub. Its creator and owner is artist Gregangelo Herrera, a long-haired 58-year-old with the soul of a 9-year-old. A native San Franciscan, Herrera moved into the one-story Mediterranean Revival-style home in 1979 and has since set about transforming it into an immersive, through-the-looking-glass Shangri-La.

From the outside of Herrera’s museum, which he still uses as his full-time residence, there are hints that this is no ordinary house. A red- and white-striped carnivalesque gate adjoins the sidewalk, and an off-kilter grandfather clock leans on the front lawn…(more)

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Reverses Abortion Ban After Pregnant Woman Claims Her Unborn Child Is Gay

By Ellie Slvaje : muddyum – excerpt

Never underestimate a southern bumpkin’s fear of being surrounded by gay men.

This fear is what drove Texas attorney general Ken Paxton to shockingly betray the Republican Party following the dissolution of Roe v. Wade. Red state legislators tried to implement abortion bans, but were blocked by their own voters. The legislators listened to their constituents as much as Helen Keller listened.

Ohio set the precedent by becoming the first red state to protect abortion rights under the State Constitution. Texas subsequently followed, despite legislators banning abortion in January 9, 2023. Paxton spoke on his internal struggle with his hate of abortions and gays…(more)

Seriously? I’m not sure if this is true, but, it is too weird not to share. One of those must dod some research to ascertain the truth of this. Someone please comment here if you do. Sounds like a Onion article to me.

Donald Trump Selling Bibles Sparks Fury From Christians—’Blasphemous Grift’

By Khaleda Rahman : Newsweek – excerpt

Former President Donald Trump‘s latest venture selling Bibles has sparked the fury of Christians.

Trump, who became the presumptive Republican nominee earlier in March, posted a video on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday urging his supporters to buy the “God Bless the USA Bible,” inspired by country singer Lee Greenwood’s patriotic ballad.

“Happy Holy Week! Let’s Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless the USA Bible,” Trump wrote in the post, alongside a link to a website selling the book for $59.99. It came a day after Trump seemingly compared his legal plight to Jesus Christ’s persecution.

And it comes as he faces mounting legal bills while fighting four criminal indictments and a series of civil charges while running to reclaim the White House. On Monday, a New York appeals court agreed to hold off on collecting the more than $454 million he owes following a civil fraud judgment if he puts up $175 million within 10 days.

But the move has sparked the ire of Christians…(more)

Who said that Democracy will be taken down by a man waving a flag and carrying a bible? No wonder Christians are pissed.

Investors for iconic downtown SF Four Seasons hotel have stopped paying on its loan

By Silas Valentino : sfgate – excerpt

Photo by zrants

A real estate developer connected to a luxury hotel building in downtown San Francisco has started flashing warning signs that it will default on its loan, adding to the list of owners struggling with solvency in the city’s shaky hospitality real estate market.

Westbrook Partners, which acquired the property for the Four Seasons San Francisco at the Embarcadero in 2019, was served a notice of default this week that said it had not paid on its monthly loan since December and is currently behind by more than $3 million.

The notice of default, which was first reported by the San Francisco Business Times, told Westbrook Partners it has 90 days to bring its account current with its lender or face foreclosure…(more

Investors in luxury hotels are letting them go

The hospitality real estate market in San Francisco is taking a dive. Investors in the SF Four Seasons hotel at Embarcadero are joining a growing number of luxury hotels defaulting on loans.

San Francisco’s downtown doom loop stories are echoed in cities around the globe. The losses and economic downturn of the uptown billionaires, though alarming to investors and city governments who depend on property taxes, do not come close to generating the panic we saw in 2008 when homeowners defaulted, lost their homes, and ended up living in cars on the street.

In 2008 a housing market bubble and underwater mortgages were blamed. The government handled the problem by bailing out the banks. Now we hear we are in a housing shortage crisis. But whose crisis is it?

This time the bubble is bursting on the wealthy investors and governments depending on property taxes, not homeowners. Billionaires and investors who trusted the planners who claimed “if you build it they will come” took the bait. Ignoring miscalculations of the past, governments removed CEQA obstacles and whatever developers claimed was in their way of making a profit or pencilling out. Investors funded up-zoned offices, housing and hotels, and a few people came for a while, but, not in the numbers anticipated. And when they could leave they did. Now we have a lot of empty buildings that have no purpose, but, this time it is the billionaires who are losing and not the homeowners.

The dense housing with tiny units, closed windows, no parking, dangerous conditions on the streets and sidewalks, and rising crime are not appealing to people with means. They were the first to leave when the offices closed, along with families. Tech firms are laying off more people than they are hiring, making a return to the downtown even less likely.

What did we learn? Maybe it is better to let the rich do the gambling since they can afford to lose the money.

A Cultural Mission visits with the Mission’s Meklit

By Andrew Gilbert : Missionlocal – excerpt

Necessity might be the mother of invention, but impending motherhood can offer its own potent inspiration. For Meklit, the imminent arrival of her son León in the summer of 2019 fueled the songwriting sessions that led to her new EP, “Ethio-Blue.”

A creative force in the Mission since her early years as artistic director of the Red Poppy Art House in the mid-aughts, the Ethiopian-born singer, songwriter, bandleader and cultural activist celebrates the release of “Ethio-Blue” Saturday at Brava (with an opening set by LoCura Trio and special guest Tarik “Excentrik” Kazaleh on oud, percussion and beats).

Pondering how she would continue her musical life with a babe in arms, Meklit found herself returning repeatedly to “Midnight Lightning,” the Laura Veirs podcast that focuses on musicians who are mothers…(more)

Meklit is one of my neighbors in Project Artaud. Her site: https://www.meklitmusic.com/