(04-29) 18:03 PDT OAKLAND — Huge leaping flames from an exploding gasoline tanker melted the steel underbelly of a highway overpass in the East Bay’s MacArthur Maze early this morning, causing it to collapse onto the roadway below and virtually ensuring major traffic problems for weeks to come.
The elevated roadway that fell carried eastbound traffic from the Bay Bridge onto Interstates 580 and 980 and state Highway 24. It draped like a blanket over a roadway below, a connector from southbound I-80 to I-880 that also was severely damaged.
The single-vehicle crash occurred on the lower roadway when the tanker, loaded with 8,600 gallons of unleaded gasoline and heading from a refinery in Benicia to a gas station on Hegenberger Road in Oakland, hit a guardrail at 3:41 a.m.
Engineers said the green steel frame of the I-580 overpass and the bolts holding the frame together began to melt and bend in the intense heat— and that movement pulled the roadbed off its supports.
California Highway Patrol spokesman Trent Cross said the driver of the tanker, James Mosqueda, 51, of Woodland (Yolo County), was traveling too fast in a 50 mph zone when his truck overturned and burst into flames.
Mosqueda, an employee of Sabek Transportation in San Francisco for 10 months, got out of the truck on his own after it overturned and hailed a taxi that took him to Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, witnesses and police said.
…
John Goodwin, a spokesman for the regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission, said the maze is one of the worst spots for traffic in the Bay Area.
“Westbound 80 is already the most congested route in the Bay Area, and it has been for many years,” said Goodwin. “Also, the route coming off the Bay Bridge eastbound from Treasure Island is number 10 on the regional congestion list, and with 580 gone there will be a huge impact on that already-congested route.”
…
Some 35,000 cars travel the two-lane I-880 connector each day, and 45,000 cars use the I-580 connector, which is three lanes, said Caltrans Director Will Kempton.
Kempton said rebuilding the I-580 connector will cost tens of millions of dollars. The extent of the damage to the I-880 connector cannot be determined, he said, until the debris is cleared off.
“Initial indications are that it has been severely damaged,” Kempton said “It will obviously need some work.”
i’m glad that i didn’t just do something foolish like move to oakland.
as if we didn’t have anything better to do with our time, the sf international film festival starts today. and of course, being as we’re practical rational people, we’re, uh, still going to films:
Friday 4.27.07
The Phantom Carriage Jonathan Richman, Victor Sjöström (Sweden, 1921, 107 minutes) @ The Castro 7:00 pm
Death’s wheels are driven by the last sinner to die before year’s end in master Swedish director Victor Sjöström’s surrealistic silent film classic, which rides again with a new score composed and performed live by local music icon Jonathan Richman.
The Heavenly Kings Daniel Wu (Hong Kong, 2006, 86 minutes) @ The Castro 9:45 pm
Bay Area born Hong Kong movie star Daniel Wu’s directorial debut is a witty account of a boy band’s rise to the top and a clever, tuneful, insider’s look at the entertainment industry’s comically bizarre operations.
Saturday 4.28.07
The Iron Mask - Novikoff Award & Afternoon with Kevin Brownlow Alan Dwan (USA, 1929, 104 minutes) @ The Castro 2:00 pm
The gallant Douglas Fairbanks must save the French crown from black-hearted schemers in this lavish version of The Three Musketeers, filled with chivalry, derring-do and impressive pre-special effects stuntwork. Made at the end of the silent era and considered the summation of the swashbuckling genre.
amour-LEGENDE Wu Mi-sen (Taiwan/Japan, 2006, 118 minutes) @ SFMOMA 9:00 pm
An adulterous couple flees Taipei for a vacation somewhere in South America, but their idyll turns bizarre and ominous within hours as they rumble across a surreal landscape populated by underground royalty and suicidal squirrels.
Sunday 4.29.07
Kevin Brownlow: Introduction To Silents @ PFA 5:30 pm
Silent-film archivist and preservationist Kevin Brownlow—recipient of this year’s Mel Novikoff Award—will present a lecture on the pre-talkie era and screen excerpts from silent gems including Bronco Billy’s Adventure, Scaramouche, The Chess Player and Fire Brigade.
Tuesday 5.1.07
Private Fears In Public Places Alain Resnais (France/Italy, 2006, 120 minutes) @ PFA 7:00 pm
Falling snow is not the only reason for the chill in wintertime Paris, as despair mingles with hope for six lonely, loosely connected people searching for love and human connection in French trickster Alain Resnais’s latest beguilement.
Wednesday 5.2.07
Hana Hirokazu Kore-eda (Japan, 2006, 127 minutes) @ Kabuki 6:45 pm
A movie about a samurai from the director of After Life and Nobody Knows. Filled with Kore-eda’s characteristic moments of quiet beauty, this tale of a hapless samurai seeking vengeance but finding acceptance is a celebration of pacifism and a tribute to Japanese cinema history.
Vanaja Rajnesh Domalpalli (India/USA, 2006, 111 minutes) @ Kabuki 9:15 pm
The spirited young daughter of a poor fisherman, Vanaja hopes to become a great dancer. Flirtation with her landlady’s son soon hurls her up against the walls of class, gender and family. A powerful coming-of-age film, both modern and graceful.
Saturday 5.5.07
Notes to a Toon Underground @ The Castro 8:30 pm
Eleven musicians including Jason Lytle (of Grandaddy), avant-garde legend William Winant, Marc Capelle and Devin Hoff and Ches Smith (of Good for Cows) play newly composed scores to the short animated films of Emily and Georgia Hubley, David Russo, Kelly Sears, Wladyslaw Starewicz and Jim Trainor.
(here is where i go to vegas for the week on “business”. plus we’ll be hypothetically moved by then! that frees up hmc to see…)
Sunday 5.6.07 The Day at The Clay
Vitus Fredi M. Murer (Switzerland, 2006, 120 minutes) @ Clay 12:00 pm
Boy genius and piano prodigy Vitus just wants to be a normal kid. He escapes the daily pressures his parents place on him by spending time with his loving, eccentric grandpa (veteran actor Bruno Ganz), who encourages him to find his own way with his exceptional gifts.
Lady Chatterley Pascale Ferran (France, 2006, 168 minutes) @ Clay 5:30 pm
D.H. Lawrence’s controversial novel detailing the affair of an upper-crust woman and a virile gameskeeper benefits from a sensual French update in this luxurious reflection on sexuality, class and female empowerment. Winner of Best Film and four other Césars, it’s intelligent, gorgeous and quite hot.
Once John Carney (Ireland, 2006, 88 minutes) @ Clay 9:30 pm
Two struggling Dublin musicians fall in love with and through each other’s music in this sublime charmer that puts mainstream romantic comedies to shame. Featuring a superb lead performance by Glenn Hansard, lead singer of the Frames.
Monday 5.7.07
7 Years Jean-Pascal Hattu (France, 2006, 85 minutes) @ Kabuki, 7:00 pm
A devoted young woman stands by her incarcerated husband but starts an affair with his prison warden in Jean-Pascal Hattu’s behind-bars bizarre love triangle that explores the lengths people go to maintain at least the illusion of freedom.
How Is Your Fish Today? Xiaolu Guo (China/England, 2007, 83 minutes) @ Kabuki, 9:45 pm
Ruminating on urban isolationism in a rapidly expanding China, Xiaolu Guo’s debut narrative feature follows a Beijing-based screenwriter as he obsessively rewrites a rejected script about a murderer on the run.
Tuesday 5.8.07
Gardens In Autumn Otar Iosseliani (France/Russia/Italy, 2006, 122 minutes) @ Kabuki 9:15 pm
In Otar Iosseliani’s hilarious satire, middle-aged French minister Vincent loses his job, his apartment and his wife. Luckily, he has a rich, doting old mother (Michel Piccoli in drag), and decides to reacquaint himself with old friends, former mistresses, his passion for music and the pleasures of alcohol.
Wednesday 5.9.07
The Yacoubian Building Marwan Hamed (Egypt, 2006, 172 minutes) @ Kabuki 1:30 pm
Residents of a historic apartment complex in Cairo fatefully cross paths in this sprawling epic, an ambitious mix of soap opera intrigue and sociopolitical critique. Featuring numerous icons of Arab cinema, this tragicomic treat is the biggest-budget Egyptian film in history.
Thursday 5.10.07
Love For Sale: Suely In The Sky Karim Aïnouz (Brazil/Germany/France/Portugal, 2006, 90 minutes) @ PFA 9:10 pm
A young Brazilian woman turns to prostitution to support her newborn baby. But far from being a depressing or cautionary tale about victimhood or social injustice, Karim Aïnouz’s feisty follow up to Madame Sãta (SFIFF 2003) is an unapologetically sexy ode to women’s liberation.
unsurprisingly, china tries to use the olympics to assert sovereignty over taiwan. also unsurprisingly, taiwan says, “no thanks”:
BEIJING — Organizers for the 2008 Beijing Olympics announced Thursday what will be the longest torch relay in the history of the games, tracing a route that covers five continents and makes politically sensitive stops in Taiwan and Tibet.
The head of Taiwan’s Olympic Committee, however, said it would not participate in the relay, because it “downgraded” Taiwan’s sovereignty.
At a Beijing ceremony attended by senior members of China’s ruling Communist Party and the International Olympic Committee, organizers said the route would cover 85,000 miles, last 130 days and reach Mount Everest.
“It will be a relay that will cover the longest distance and be most inclusive and involve the most people in Olympic history,” said Liu Qi, the head of Beijing’s Olympic organizing committee.
The relay is the latest grand plan associated with an Olympics that organizers and IOC officials have said should set a new standard for the games. But it also takes the games into politically tricky terrain.
Stops in Taiwan and Tibet, where Mount Everest towers, have generated controversy ever since Beijing telegraphed its intentions to include them on the route years ago. Taiwan has resisted Beijing’s overtures — and sometimes threats — to unify after splitting amid civil war while China’s often harsh 57-year rule over Tibet has been widely criticized.
Four American activists were detained by Chinese authorities Wednesday on Mount Everest after they unfurled a banner calling for Tibet’s independence.
Beijing is hoping that the torch relay will bolster its claims over both territories.
In the proposed compromise, the torch would pass from Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City to Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, and then to Chinese-controlled Hong Kong. The route would allow Taiwan to say it is part of the international leg, while allowing China to blur the distinction between the domestic and international parts.
The disputes underscore the political agendas at work at many Olympics and, especially in Beijing, whose Communist government hopes to event will raise its stature at home and abroad.
although perhaps the real fear was that china could sneak in troops hidden within a trojan olympic torch!
yikes, we somehow also bought a dwr media center:
thankfully, hmc sold all of our green leather furniture on craigslist yesterday. however, i realize this means that our furniture will no longer match mika’s eyes:
yesterday we went to the design within reach sample sale.
let me be clear: we hate dwr. they sell beautiful items, priced just out of affordability. just enough that you can almost justify it if you’re splurging for the beautiful object. but within reach? HA!
however, who can pass up the chance to buy samples and returns for “up to 75% off”? why that’s almost like “up to 1000% free!”
we got there a little after 10am, which is when the doors opened, and the line was around the block. i kid you not. picture every yuppie hipster in sf on a saturday morning in line in potrero hill. honestly it was a little like disneyland. the line kept getting longer and longer, and then when you finally made it around the corner, and you realized that there was another half block to go. then you get inside the building and realize that you’ve got to go around another corner as well. they might as well have put up “wait from this point is X hours” signs.
the worst thing is that this primes you to buy at a frenzy as a result. as you get closer and closer, you see people carrying out and carting away beautiful pieces of furniture that YOU wanted, presumably bought at INCREDIBLE BARGAINS! oh, if you had only gotten there earlier! damn, someone’s just nabbed a sussex low dresser! and the alluringly impractical nelson platform bench! omg someone just got my beloved eames aluminum management chair in spinneybeck green leather! noooooooo!
thus, when you finally get in, you’re rushing around like it’s supermarket showdown, and madly looking for things that DON’T have a big SOLD tag on them, and are ravenous to find a bargain, any bargain! designer bar stools! curvy wavey ceiling lamps! oooh, how about that media center? who cares if we don’t have a flat screen tv to mount on the stand? we’ll buy one with all the money we saved!
to be honest, we did end up buying a few things. but they’re pretty great. a pierrot sofa sleeper in camel, and then these awesome heavy duty shelves in automobile paint orange (of course). plus an incredible stool that literally folds down into two dimensions. i think it triggers a quantum singularity every time we use it.
they did have my most favorite most treasured thing there for sale: the eames soft pad management chair in spinneybeck chocolate leather. perfect condition, on sale. hmc said i could buy it, but honestly, even after 1/3 off, i couldn’t in good conscience spend $2000 on an office chair.
the weird thing about the sale is that EVERY OTHER WOMAN THERE WAS PREGNANT. what the hell was up with that? i think that every upper middle class pregnant lady in sf must have been there. how can that make sense? how can you afford to be preggers in the city and still afford dwr furniture?
hmc cleared it up for me: if you can afford to be preggers and live in the city, you must be rich.
the nba playoffs start today.
but of course, you knew that already. will detroit be able to climb back to the throne? can miami even make it through the first round? how far will a nail-bitey lebron go? how long can the suns run-n-gun? will dallas make it this year, or does nellie have their number? or do those damn spurs have the inside track?
meanwhile, the perfect tuneup at freedarko: an analysis of each playoff team to see whether they’re more jewish or asian: the east & the west.
so wrong, yet so right.
i just got a call from todd.
it was recorded at the county clerk today.
we fucking own a house.
having signed the bazillion documents late on monday after our trek, the last final step was to give that big fat check to the title company.
you know, the one that you got when you sold both of your kidneys to get the down payment.
for days we knew it was coming. i’ve been rooting through couches, counting pennies, calling in debts, breaking some legs, stealing recyclables, trying to come up with the right amount.
finally i thought i had it all figured out. stock options exercised (the price can STOP FALLING NOW thanks), moneys wired, and ready to sell my soul to the MAN.
and then i roll into the bank to do the wire transfer, and i see the sign that says: wire transfer deadline 1pm. are you shitting me? what? are you saying that after 1pm, old man mcrackity mcjones no longer can work the teletype to wire funds? shit, man this is 2007! have you ever heard of the INTERNET? fucking paypal sends shit like instantly. zip bang! you have GOT to be kidding me.
fine, i get a certified check instead, and suddenly i need to hoof it up to oakland to drop it off.
only thing is, when i’m getting into the 880 onramp, i actually skid and SPIN OUT on the cloverleaf. i don’t think i was going too fast, but maybe i was. i swear i wasn’t texting at the time. double swear. the image of me calling my loan broker saying, “ok, well, i have the check, but i’m stranded in santa clara” runs through my head.
thankfully, seemingly no damage to the miata. i back off of the curb, and get back on my way.
maybe a little more carefully. deep breaths. keep calm, you’re signing your life away, not trying to end it and actually throw it away.
i make it to oakland and drop it off. the title ladies are all crotchety about how the money has to go in today and they’ve already done the day’s deposits.
listen bizatches, i almost KILLED MYSELF getting this here. just take my damn money and be done with it.
if you’re buying a house, try not to be away for 66% of the weekends during escrow.
you’re thinking, ok, it’s just the weekend, right? what’s the big deal? well, suddenly you get pulled into inspections, and signing documents, and then something about installing automatic gas shutoff valves and then voodoo cleansing rituals suddenly are necessary.
then title and loan people want you to sign seventeen documents on a day that you’re planning to be driving a couch and a free washer up the coast. how can i buy a house if i don’t have crazy shit to put in it? (i was excited to get a front-load washer, for the efficiency and efficacy, but in the end, free trumps eco-sensible. thanks, n8! sorry, earth. maybe i can buy some carbon (water?)credits with my savings. or maybe i’ll blow it on strippers. who knows?)
apparently you’re supposed to make your bid, and then sit anxiously, at the ready, pen in one hand, and a big fistful of money in the other.
waiting… waiting… waiting…
.just what i need. more reassuring news from the nytimes about how you’re a FOOL to buy a house right now:
Most striking, perhaps, is the fact that prices may not yet have fallen far enough for buying to look better than renting today, except for people who plan to stay in a home for many years.
With the spring moving season under way, The New York Times has done an analysis of buying vs. renting in every major metropolitan area. The analysis includes data on housing costs and looks at different possibilities for the path of home prices in coming years.
It found that even though rents have recently jumped, the costs that come with buying a home — mortgage payments, property taxes, fees to real estate agents — remain a lot higher than the costs of renting. So buyers in many places are basically betting that home prices will rise smartly in the near future.
Over the next five years, which is about the average amount of time recent buyers have remained in their homes, prices in the Los Angeles area would have to rise more than 5 percent a year for a typical buyer there to do better than a renter. The same is true in Phoenix, Las Vegas, the New York region, Northern California and South Florida. In the Boston and Washington areas, the break-even point is about 4 percent.
“House prices have to fall more before housing becomes a clear buy again,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com, a research company that helped conduct the analysis. “These markets aren’t as overvalued as they were a year ago or two years ago, but they’re still unfriendly. And that’s one of the reasons the market is still soft — people realize it’s not a bargain.”
great. thanks, nytimes! not that hmc needed any more to worry about. i appreciate it. maybe instead you can go back to “discovering new wolds”?
let’s go out and celebrate! i’m buying, but i’ll have to charge you 6% of your drink.
hmc bought this couch today off of craigslist in lost angels for our new house:
the only question was how well ultrasuede would do with pets. conveniently, the ultrasuede council at ultrasuede.com says:
The advanced non-woven construction of Ultrasuede® makes it inherently pet friendly. It’s impossible to scratch, there are no threads to pull or fray, and Ultrasuede® will never retain odors, absorb stray hairs or show signs of stains from pet “accidents.”
for all you new or prospective homeowners, if the idea of buying a house didn’t make you nauseous already, this ought to do it: historical housing prices plotted as a roller coaster:
apparently, the crackheads are winning. this in the chron today:
Monday, April 2, 2007
Thieves broke into cars in San Francisco an average of 43 times a day last year, police statistics show. The 15,776 car break-ins or attempted break-ins accounted for more than half the reported petty thefts in the city in 2006 and represented a 20 percent increase from the year before. Overall, petty thefts were up 8 percent.
Startling enough, but cops we talked with say the problem — especially with cars — could be two to three times greater than the numbers indicate.
“People tend to report the first time they get hit,” said Ingleside Station Capt. Paul Chignell, who worked for years on the police auto detail. “Then they find out that their insurance doesn’t cover it” — the deductible is often higher than the loss — “so they just stop reporting.”
Most of the car boosts occur in and around downtown. But the trail of broken glass is becoming increasingly common across the city.
…
Mirkarimi said the “come down and fill out a report” response is giving residents the impression that law enforcement has given up on low-level crimes, and that “people are just supposed to get used to the idea of waking up to the sight of broken glass.” It’s an attitude he calls very distressing.
But look at it from the cops’ point of view. To chase down those 15,000-plus car break-ins — and the thefts of cars themselves — the department’s auto detail has a grand total of five investigators.
And unless the cops catch a thief actually breaking into the car, the chances of serious charges being filed are slim.
…
The smash-and-grab syndrome has gotten so bad, Dudley said, that people are leaving their cars unlocked with cards on the dashboard that read, “Nothing to steal.”
Last year, police made 513 felony arrests for auto break-ins. That comes to about 1 for every 30 reported crimes.
Of those 513 arrests, 315 people were charged, 219 were convicted, 14 had their cases dismissed, and 82 are still waiting for their day in court.
Of the ones who were convicted, 56 repeat offenders went off to state prison, while the rest got county jail time, probation or a combination of both.
…
It’s a familiar complaint, one we’ve heard time and time again: too much crime, too few cops, no will in the courts to put away nonviolent offenders, and no room in the jails even if prosecutors get a conviction.
The result is a revolving door between the jail and the street — and a pile of smashed car glass on the sidewalk.
although really, how could it be worse? now i’m moving to oakland, because i feel like my car will be safer. IN OAKLAND.
sigh.
really? again? four days later? did you really think that suddenly, after repeated break-ins that i would think, “oh, now it’s safe to put expensive things back in my car” and i would leave my stash of gold ingots in there? just after you broke into it this past weekend?
sure, i know what you’re trying to do. you’re trying to get into the trunk. yet every time you break in, you can see that there’s NO WAY FOR YOU TO GET INTO THE TRUNK. i’ve disabled that lever. why? because of fuckers like you. no, the hood release doesn’t help you, either.
and i suppose out of frustration and out of spite, you took my cell phone and ipod car chargers that you left last time. but you instead left a wall cell phone charger to an entirely different phone? i’m not sure whether that’s a present to try and make me feel better, or what? it’s not really working.
oh, and thanks for stealing my cassette adapter. so now i can’t listen to my ipod anymore.
thanks,
the owner of the green miata
