Monday, April 27, 2009

Sunday Streets 2: David Miles, the Sk8GodFather



After watching the motorcade action, we boarded one of the F-Line historic streetcars, this one from Milano, Italia...



...and exited at Justin Herman Plaza where skates were being rented to those wanting to cruise the plaza, make their way down Sunday morning's carless Embarcadero...



...or take roller disco lessons from David Miles Jr., also known as the Sk8GodFather (click here for his webpage).



A small group was happily engaged in a complex dance routine to Kool & The Gang's "Celebration" and if I had a better sense of balance, I would have joined them. They seemed to be having a blast.



David G. Miles, Jr. (pictured above) is one of San Francisco's unsung treasures, hosting Friday night skate parties on city streets, and Sunday afternoon roller disco parties in Golden Gate Park for decades. He has provided an amazing number of people with hours of pleasure, and if we lived in a sane world, he'd be in charge of San Francisco's Rec and Park Department, making life beautiful for all.

6 comments:

affinity said...

Dee (David) has been running the Black Rock Roller Disco at Burning Man for many years. He is tireless and has brought fun and the surprise of roller skates to old and new Burners alike. Great photo of a great guy.

momo said...

My younger brother and sister used to dance in the park when they were in high school, back in the day (back in the days of Kool and the Gang first time around!) I could never go backwards myself.

affinity said...

I just find it facinating that so many coincidences seem to happen with your blog sfmike. momo commented on your "Changing Car Culture" blog above and has a photo of Passage by Karen Cusolito and Dan Dass Mann. The installation was supported by the Black Rock Arts Foundation. I blog, twitter, facebook and flickr for them and my husband built the plinth for Passage. It just continues to be odd that often when I read your blog there is a little bit of me in there and you are not a Burner and you and I have never met...don't mean to make it all about me, but I am both bemused and amused. I think I have only ever commented on Tangobaby's blog once and almost never anywhere else, except here almost everytime I read your blog.

Cousins in a previous life?

http://blackrockarts.blogspot.com/search/label/Passage

Civic Center said...

Dear affinity: DefinitelWe're definitely fellow streghas. Speaking of Burners, I became buddies with Crimson Rose backstage when she appeared at the San Francisco Opera in 1992 as a nun who is stripped naked by demons (played by near-naked Russian acrobats) in Prokofiev's "The Fiery Angel." I was one of the supernumerary Inquisitors driving out Satan from the Possessed Nuns. We lost, and it was awfully fun.

momo said...

Hi, affinity! I took that photo a few years ago when I was in SF visiting my mother; I loved how the figures were looking toward the Bay Bridge near the Ferry Building. When I wanted an avatar, that photo drew me because it reminded me of me and my daughter. I'm so happy to learn something more about the installation (I just knew it had something to do with Burning Man, but not anything else.

affinity said...

I love our small world! I heard Clay Shirkey talk this weekend. He wrote "Here Comes Everybody" a book about social media and how we are all out here together forming relationship and finding connections we did not know we had. Now we all know a lot more about one another!!