Just Like Heaven

Original Joe's

R.I.P: Cody's, 2 Stockton Street


Lucky Penny: 2670 Geary Blvd.

Pennies in the countertop are all 1970, the year the restaurant opened.
Masonic near McAllister: Just when I was beginning to miss Madeline Kahn, the SF gynecologist, along comes Carmen Miranda, realtor.

04/17/07; 10:00 PM

lizamcg asks, You shouldn't shake your finger at Gavin Newsom's problems. How many ex-girlfriends does Willie Brown have?

According to Willie Brown, none.

PotreroDude asks, You mentioned Just Like Heaven. Is that you as the neighbor?

That's actor Jeffrey Marcus.

Chris asks, Is that Marie Duggan of Original Joe's in the scene from Zodiac that was shot there?

Yes! Original Joe's - as integral to the City's police life as Tosca, bullets, and Bullitt - appears, as does its owner, the lovely Mrs. Duggan.

SFTom asks, was that you being filmed in the GoCar on Monday on Hyde Street?

That was Conan O'Brien. He is bringing the show here for a week starting April 30.

Steven asks, I moved from SF 4 years ago to Chicago and I really miss it. Someday I hope to find some small place to retire and live with my wife when the kids are grown. Do you have any advice on how and what to look for in the next 10-15 years?

Without knowing your financial background and what you consider a small place, it's difficult to advise, but allow me to generalize. The Bay Area economy is expected to remain strong over the next two decades, as is the San Francisco real estate market. The City is rife with development, with most eyes on high-rise residential buildings in the Rincon/Transbay area. What impact that will have on existing housing stock in older neighborhoods remains to be seen. (I would like to see it lead to height limits in certain other places, but that's another topic.) While the addition of luxury condos is abhorred by some, one recent change that has made home ownership viable for people who are not wealthy has been the move by banks to allow separate mortgages for members of a tenancy-in-common. There are many, many options. You may consider retiring to an affordable rental, but even rent control legislation is not guaranteed to exist forever. One thing is certain when it comes to housing in the City; it's political in nature. Therefore, you have to keep an eye on it, plan ahead, and add some zeroes. Perhaps you mean, will San Francisco still be the place you love and miss, or will it be ruined by whatever? You'll love it more madly in 15 years, I promise!

04/17/07; 8:27 PM

Lisa asks, No grief for Cody's?

Yes, grief for Cody's. Sure, it was a newcomer on Stockton Street but Cody's of Berkeley is an independent bookselling icon. I covered book store closings in 2001 and I'm sad to see the blood letting continue on and on. The Waldenbooks (smaller chain owned by Borders) at 4 Embarcadero is gone as is the religious bookstore on Geary St. near Lotta's Fountain, the Rand McNally store, and Acorn on Polk. I'm nostalgic for those Waldenbooks stores on Geary, Polk & California, and 4 Embarcadero but even when they were favorite stops of mine in the '80s they were owned by K-Mart. Borders officials say they have no plans to close the Waldenbooks in West Portal.

SOMAkelly asks, what is/was the Copper Penny?

The Copper Penny is the former name of the Lucky Penny restaurant, 2670 Geary Blvd., which was a franchise owned by IHoP. The owner of the Geary and Masonic location separated his business from the franchise and became the Lucky Penny in the early '80s. A former Noe Valley resident has a great joke, "They could have called it the Lucky Lincoln, but then Lincoln wasn't so lucky."

Regan asks, Do you have a recommendation since Swan Oyster Depot is not open at night?

Anchor Oyster Bar, 579 Castro Street, open until 10pm six days, 9:30 on Sunday.

Myesha asks, I'm surprised you don't have more to say about blogs and online citizen journalists. Weren't you one of the first, in the City at least?

Yes, but I was always a citizen journalist; even with my press credentials, which I've had before and since I've had the web site, I frequently wait in the public line to report on what Mr. or Ms. SF would experience. The media are equalizing in front of our eyes; they're really all becoming the same. When something happens off the script it's no longer the exclusive material of bloggers looking for something wholey unique from the field of coverage. The posting by TV reporter Dan Noyes of footage showing the mayor simulating oral sex on a microphone is a good example. Ann Marie Cox, famous for starting the fairly vicious and crude Wonkette political web site in D.C. a few years back, is now an editor at Time. Mostly, I find the blogs that get the most attention nationally (Perez, etc.) are overly mean, but that could equalize too if bloggers don't feel they have to over-sensationalize in order to get noticed; they only have to start by telling stories in an interesting way and with integrity. I also chose to do positive stories. The Internet has been good and bad for journalism, mostly good. And, the medium is not the message. Paper is not the cause of bad comic strips.

shea asks, Did Alfred Hitchcock ever say that San Francisco was a city without a bad angle? I thought he did, but I can't find any record of it.

I'm not familiar with the quote but it is a true statement!

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