Review: The Florentine Papers: A Novel
If you are a fan of lean, hard-boiled prose, you won’t find it in The Florentine Papers: A Novel, by [...]
Advice from the oracle’s mouth
Annals of Advice: Uncle Pat Agonistes is the “Oracle of the Ferry Building.” He is a fixture of some renown [...]
Fly the funny skies
It’s been six years since my last confession. And it had been that long since I last boarded an airplane. [...]
A San Francisco Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is not a big deal in San Francisco, as it occurs weeks after Halloween and weeks before Christmas. The [...]
The mystery of Liar’s Dice
Liar's Dice, as played in bars and nightclubs in San Francisco, is for two or more patrons and involves deception as [...]
Chet Baker remembered
When Chet Baker returned to San Francisco to play a few sessions at Kimball’s Jazz Club on Grove Street in [...]
Reimagining “The Rock”
While President Trump’s idea of restoring Alcatraz as a high-security prison seems silly, many here believe that the property should [...]
A “V” for the WNBA
Local ferry commuters and tourist riders who anticipated The Golden State Valkyries' debut here this season as an expansion team were [...]
Suicide by ferry
In the movie masterpiece “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” the two outlaws have been fleeing Pinkerton mercenaries who have [...]
Poker prophets
When our poker party convenes every Thursday evening, the discussion inevitably involves the seductiveness of gambling and games of chance. [...]
What not to ask San Franciscans
We are spotted as natives, most likely because we are not burdened by backpacks and we don’t stare dumbly into [...]
Chess undressed
Compared with other games, chess is rather staid. But even chess has some drama. The latest scandal in the chess [...]