Citizens of San Francisco were invited by their mayor to Bill Graham auditorium in the Civic Center to launch a new volunteerism program called "SF Connect."
For some reason this event, unlike the peaceful protest, was actually underpoliced.
In the lobby, if you had not signed up already, there were plenty of either employees or volunteers to get you "connected" onto their new website which had been officially launched that day (click here to get there).
The crowd inside the auditorium was huge.
Though it mostly consisted of what one would have called yuppies in another time...
...there was a smattering of poor people in attendance...
...who were allowed to enjoy the lovely free hors d'oeuvres along with good wine and soft drinks.
Onstage, Supervisor Bevan Dufty was droning on endlessly about how he came from a poor background in New York, and how he wasn't just Irish, he was really Jewish because his mother was Jewish, and he used to volunteer to help Holocaust survivors read ballots, and how poor he was when he was young, and so and so forth until I wanted to yell, "Shut up, you phony, and kiss my non-A-Gay ass," but I didn't.
Dufty was followed by the retired Reverend Cecil Williams of Glide Memorial Church in the Tenderloin who uttered a seemingly endless number of banalities about how "diverse" San Francisco is and how we know how to help each other out.
It's interesting that somebody who has created such a large empire and made a small fortune accepting public dollars to help the poor wants everyone else to do the same thing for free.
Finally, Cecil announced that our host, Mayor Gavin Newsom himself, wouldn't be able to join us this evening, but that he would be speaking to us live from Long Beach where he was accompanying the Poodle Prime Minister of England, Tony Blair, on his California tour.
Newsom's short, televised address was followed by a not very inspiring speech by Alex Tourk, one of Newsom's deputies.
"We're Doers, not Critics," he proclaimed...
...before the curtain behind him went up on the evening's entertainment...
...the Booker T. Jones Band...
...who looked profoundly bored at having to play at this event.
The audience didn't much look interested in them, either, to tell the truth and the crowd thinned out immediately.
The beautiful blonde above, who works with Geek Entertainment TV's Eddie Codel (click here to get to his website)...
...noted the mass exit with this remark...
"All the gay guys and the 30-plus women left immediately when they realized Gavin wasn't going to show."
Hey Mike, Thanks for going after Cecil Williams. He and Willie Brown always seem to be laughing at a joke I just don't get.
ReplyDeleteAnd, how did this attractive city wind up with Bevan Dufty? I can understand how we got stuck with Alioto-Piers, but Bevan Dufty!
What a dreary affair you documented! It seems that if politicians actually accomplish something, the taxpayers have to fund a party for them to celebrate. Pathetic.
Hi Mike. Once again, you sum this adventure up perfectly. Btw, the beautiful blonde with me is actually a redhead and she's not GETV's Irina Slutsky. She's Valleyschwag's Tara Anderson. Hard to keep all the beautiful women straight. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteDear Eddie: I knew she wasn't Irina, but I forgot the name she gave me. Also, in the dark light the beautiful redhead Tara looked like a blonde. By the way, it was a real pleasure bumping into you.
ReplyDeleteWow, that "non-yuppie" looks like he got to chow down big-time. Good for him.
ReplyDeleteAnd I always thought you were an A-Gay!
--AlbGlinka
Bet all the recipient charities had to do turn out for this wingding.
ReplyDelete