The Blog

A lot of exciting things are going down right in time for a three-day weekend. Here's what you need to know before Memorial Day.

Photo by Salim Virji 

I live about five blocks away from MacArthur BART station in North Oakland, yet I ride my bike to and from the station to commute into San Francisco. To some people, that might seem a little ridiculous; it's just an eight minute walk (rather than a two minute ride), but for me it's a safety issue. There have been a huge numbers of muggings in my neighborhood, along 40th Street, to and from MacArthur BART. Fortunately, I've never been a victim of one of these crimes, but being a relatively small female, I do feel like I could potentially be targeted if I were to be walking alone. So I almost always bike that two minutes to and from my house and park at the station. Cycling means I'm less likely (though not completely safe) from being harassed or mugged. And I'm not the only woman who feels that way.   

For the last couple of weeks – leading up to tonight's BART Board of Directors meeting that will decide whether the rush-hour bicycle ban on BART will be lifted – the SF Bike Coalition has asked the public to share their personal stories about why ending the blackout would improve their lives. More than 300 people across the Bay Area wrote in with their stories, and many of them were women. Yesterday, the SF Bike Coalition posted "Why Removing the Bike Blackout Would Mean a Safer Commute for Many Women," which shared two female perspectives of how the restriction has put their safety at a risk. 

Tiffany, a student in San Bruno said, "Since I can't bring my bike on BART during rush hour, I'm forced to walk from the San Bruno BART station to my class through some desolate, industrial areas. It's especially scary at night walking alone as a woman, and it gets dark very early during wintertime."

Mira, who lives in Oakland works in SF explained, "Because of the rush hour bike blackouts, I eventually broke down and bought a car to safely get to and from BART as a woman. This was after I was robbed walking home from BART at night after work."

Biking in potentially unsafe areas is a good idea for everyone, not just women, but I would like to point out that throughout history, bicycles have been a means to autonomous living for women. I'd love to see BART contribute to more women feeling more comfortable, independent, and safe going out and about the Bay Area, because there's nothing worse than feeling trapped at home. 

Tonight's BART Board meeting (which will also cover late-night service) takes place at 6 p.m. at 344 20th Street in Oakland. The options that will be considered by the board will be to fully remove the bike ban during rush hour, to implement a five-month trial period where bikes can freely be on BART at all times, or to continue the bike ban during commute hours. If you plan on attending and want to speak for lifting the ban, contact the SF Bike Coalition. Or, you can still share your story with them on why being able to bring your bike on BART at all times is important to you.  

Author's note: The title of this blog post was recently amended from using the word "Issue" to "Matter." The word "Issue" was meant in a general sense, not to imply a problem; the wording was changed to clarify. Sorry for the confusion!

Are hipsters the new Nespresso machines? That is, you want them in the office to look pretty, but they're overpriced and you never get that much out of them.

This is the sick, sad question that came to my mind when I read about this Pennsylvania Ad Agency's "Hipsters Wanted" Ad in New York Magazine last week. Less than an hour after publishing it, New York Magazine added an update saying "Pavone tells us that the original ad was 'unintentionally abridged' and has now been updated." 

Below is the updated version, but the only addition to the ad is the fourth paragraph that says "You have to be capable of articulating brands in a range of voices as far apart as Zach Braff after bad sushi and Beyonce skydiving." I don't think Zach Braff references are helping the situation.

After reading this (and not yet getting a response from Pavone to my email query about it) I think three possible things could have happened to bring this job listing into being:

1. This is a pretty good joke on the new biz dev guy that everyone thinks is a tool for suggesting hiring more hipsters. I feel sorry for him if it's his email in the ad.

2. This is for real and makes me feel more optimistic about my chances of finding a job, but less optimistic about the fate of humanity.

3. This is an evil genius ad agency's publicity stunt. Is this Don Draper's "Why I'm Quitting Tobacco" gone terribly, terribly wrong?

In the time it took me to come up with those possible explanations, Pavone's Director of Communication, Michael Lane emailed me to explain:

"This ad is real! One of our senior creative directors wrote the ad feeling that it would be a playful way to share some of the spirit of our agency culture. And as the ad said: 'sense of sarcasm required.'

There was a glitch when we first uploaded the ad so that only half of the it, minus the job description, initially posted. The mistake actually added to the hipster attitude and frankly made it even funnier. It worked out great.

We've had about 30 applications so far but even more interesting have been the outpouring of responses just to say they liked the ad. We've had responses from as far away as the U.K. "

I'm not sure I'm buying their explanation and I'm still interested in other theories about this ad, so please feel free to leave them in the comments. If you simply feel like telling me this is a lazy excuse for a non-article, you'll have to get in line behind my mother.

SWOON and The Bold Italic have found your SWOON local guys of the day. SWOON is available on both Android and Apple, so it has thousands of faces to browse.

Name: Jamael Savage

Neighborhood: Hayes Valley

Gig: The Al Bundy of Hayes valley

What's your favorite place to pick up women? At work. Hayes Valley is a gold mine for all kinds of women.

Where's your go-to date place? Usually a quiet bar were I won't run into any friends. Lately it's been Smuggler's Cove. Girls love the drinks there. I do too because they pack a punch.

Where would you have your last meal on earth? A burrito and three tacos from Taqueria Cancun on Mission St. I'll inhale the tacos while they prepare my burrito.

Who's your favorite quintessential local character? Slater, aka Snoop. He's a homeless guy that's usually on 16th St. He and his girlfriend are the nicest people I've met. Plus, he had my back one night when some drunk guys tried to fight me.

What would you change about SF? The damn rent and it could always be 10 degrees warmer year round. I get tired of carrying around a small jacket at all times.

What are you up to these days?: Working, partying, partying, and working. I'm usually working six days a week. Once I'm done I usually head over to Dobbs Ferry to have a few drinks and catch whatever sports are still on before I go out for the night. I think I'm over there too much now. That bar is like an episode of Cheers, but better. I even have a special drink there. If Evan's working, tell him you want the "whiskey drink from last time." That's the name of it because it has no real name. I just say I want the "whiskey drink from last time" and he knows what I want.

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These days, lots of us try to eat organic foods whenever we can because we've heard it's better for us. In the process, we contribute to an industry that now exceeds $30 billion annually in the US alone. That figure accounts for four percent of all retail food sales!

A plant or animal food is considered organic if it's grown without synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, hormones, or the routine use of antibiotics. It also must be processed without irradiation or chemical additives and cannot have been genetically modified. But does organic necessarily mean healthy? 

Here are some insights on the issue of organic food from One Medical’s trusted physicians, Malcolm Thaler, MD.

Are Organic Foods Worth It?

Eating organic comes at a high cost: Organic foods can be twice as expensive as conventional equivalents. Does it make any sense to spend all that money? A recent report in the Annals of Internal Medicine attempted to answer this question. After examining hundreds of previous investigations into organic foods, the researchers found:

§  No difference between organic and conventional foods in almost every level of vitamin and nutrient

§  No difference in allergic outcomes (such as skin rashes or asthma) between people who eat organic foods and those who eat conventional products

§  No difference in bacterial contamination, although the bacteria in conventionally processed foods were more often resistant to multiple antibiotics

§  When children switched from conventional foods to organic foods, their levels of pesticides declined, although even prior to the switch their levels were below the safety levels established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

So what does all this mean? Should you eat organically or not?

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