Only One Thing Matters Tonight

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The Most Definitive Article You've Ever Read About The Old San Francisco; Memories Oh Memories (With Apologies to Herb Caen)

 SUNDAY NIGHT was big in my house growing up; as a kid in Oakland I used to hang around Chinatown and eat at the old Silver Dragon on Webster with my high-school buddies from Skyline. The big deal in the 70's was how to get inside the Silver Dragon--usually it required at least a 10-dollar tip and even that didn't guarantee admission past the long line.

We had alternatives --my family liked the Grotto in Jack London Square. Again, Sunday night. Packed, a sea of humanity; Italians, Jews, Irish, Mexican, Black, White, it really didn't matter because the Grotto had the best salmon and fillet of sole--you want spaghetti and meatballs? Step right up. Where's the bread? It's coming, no need to ask.

My deal as I got older was heading over to North Beach in the late 70's. That was the last time it was fully Italian and Molinari's ruled the landscape. Vintage old Gino &Carlo was a scene, nightly, out of a Hollywood movie. My first trip there was around 1982. I was 20. The first time I ever met Herb Caen was inside the joint. Classic look, classic place. Herb was holding court with Willie Brown and Wilkes Bashford--I think they were having nightcaps --whatever they were having seemed unique and important. How so? Because later on, Joe Alioto walked in and they all went to the back and closed the door. Another classic scene. I have no idea what they talked about but all I do know is that a very attractive woman server went to the room with lots of good red wine and explicit orders from Alfred the bartender. I was curious as all get-go, especially when the cops came in; later on I learned Gino & Carlo was the SFPD hidden oasis. Still is today too although like most of the city its lost a lot of its soul. I miss the vibe. I miss Alfred too with his wise-ass look and gestalt--one time I walked into the bar with a cigar. It was late at night and I was trying to act like a big shot and impress a girl. You could smoke in SF then but I was reluctant to light up my big stogie so I asked Alfred if I could have permission: "Can I smoke a cigar?" He responded, "I don't care if you smoke crack!" Ah, classic Sunday night response from the classic bartender.

North Beach, circa 1984. The Condor. Carol Doda. Café Sport where a bowl of pasta and sand dabs was about 20 bucks. The streets were clean and you could even park! MUNI was on time and there seemed to be lots of spirit--NO cranes too--bonus time. Stop the presses! Van Ness was still Auto Row and the big pick-up place was Lord Jim's. The Punch Line on Battery was the comedy destination --it was there regularly where the likes of Bobby Slayton, Bob Sarlatte, Steve Pearl and Alex Bennett used to hang out. Every now and then Robin Williams would sneak in late and go up onstage and do a rousing 30-minute set. Complete bedlam. If Robin didn't show up there was Dana Carvey. Dana wasn't as huge a star back then; neither too, Roseanne Barr; as a judge of the SF Stand-Up Comedy Competition, I met Barr there. I had no idea she would eventually end up on the Tonight Show a year later. Dammit, I could have been her Tom Arnold but we didn't mix; she wasn't my type. Thanks for caring.

Back to North Beach and beyond. I liked to walk around and scope the scene and what a scene it was. Fat Tony. Charming numbers runner, Davey Rosenberg, marching outside Washington Square doing favors for Sam Conti. 415 Good Fellas in action. Nobody got hurt for the most part. The food was good. The cops were cool. The girls looked spectacular. A little rancor every now and then. Especially good old Con Murphy. Reminded me of a cross between Charlie Gain and Al Nelder. Characters. All of them. They used to drink at Geno & Carlo and later on have dinner at House of Prime Rib. That's the usual run even today. Sunday night at the House. They used to line up at 3--the place didn't even open up until 4PM. Cocktails! First one who wins liars dice gets a dirty martini on me! Hide the salad and get the King cut going. "Where's my Yorkshire pudding, Alice?" "And can I have extra creamed spinach!" Mission accomplished.

SUNDAY night in the city. Young and handsome, even I had my moments. I used to know this blond named Esther --she worked at Macys part time, was a student at USF and was one hot broad! She was into the theatre and loved all music and play. Met her one night at the lobby bar inside the Fairmont Hotel. I was working at K-101 back then (doing sports and news/entertainment) and got to interview the likes of Joel Grey and BB King. Esther was impressed. We had center seats and coveted dinner service for the Grey cabaret in the divine Venetian Room. What a room. Herb Caen's favorite spot. Thanks Carol Vernier for taking care of yours truly with a big assist to Rick Swig, whose family owned the hotel back then. Still can't fathom the Fairmont as second banana in today's hotel wars. Just go inside the lobby and tell me you don't see magic.

I'm not a native San Franciscan but I have an appreciation of the city, maybe not so much the people because the people have changed; times have changed (naturally) and not all change is bad it's just that the city, in my opinion, has lost its soul. The city of  neighborhoods; its people, its characters, its artists have all but disappeared and that's just plain sad. I feel for the generation before me who were able to walk the streets and engage in real conversation. Today, the advent of cell-phones and social media has vaporized the radical concept of good old-fashioned conversation. You can't call anyone, it's against the law. To hell with discourse and the spoken word; you now must tweet and facebook it. Could you imagine Sinatra up on stage singing My Way and some tech schmuck playing with his smart phone? Get the goons, Frank is pissed! And truth be told, I'd pitch in five bucks for the execution.

Those were the days my friends ...Sunday Night. What theatre. What magic. What drama. Bill Graham. What tragedy. George Moscone. Joe Alioto. Leo Ryan. Harvey Milk. 1978. Richard Hongisto. Quentin Kopp. Diane Feinstein. Willie McCovey. John Rothmann. Dave's delicatessen. 1977. Star Wars. The Coronet at Geary and Arguello. Long lines. KGO Radio. Jim Dunbar. Owen Spann. Monte Stickles. Van Amburg. KGO-TV 277 Golden Gate Ave studios with Peter Giddings, John O'Reilly, Jerry Jensen. Jim Lange. Mayor Art Finley. Ronn Owens and Jan Black. Jerry Doyle. Peter Cleaveland "On the streets". The Studio Café across the street on GG Ave. KRON and PIX on Van Ness. Wayne Walker. "Mac". Hunan. Alfred's. Paoli's (If you didn't leave with a woman you didn't like women) Jim Eason. Ray Taliaferro. Ira Blue. Sonny Buxton. John L. Wasserman. Huey Lewis. John Fogerty. Saul Zaentz. Gerald Nachman. Stanton Delaplane. Charles McCabe. Art Hoppe. Art Rosenbaum. Wells Twombly. Ira Miller. Art Spander. Milt Kahn. Evan White. Jim Paymar. Cheryl Jennings. Art Cribbs. Carolyn Tyler. Valerie Coleman. Angela Alioto. The original Original Joes in the Tenderloin. Ben Williams. Joe Starkey. Bill King. Franklin Mieuli. Dick Vertlieb. Human tragedy. The Zebra Murders. Patty Hearst. Tania. SLA. Cinque. Donald Defreeze. Nancy Ling Perry. Mel's Drive In. Bill and Emily Harris. Dan White. Twinkie defense. Harry Denton. James J. Murphy. Tales of the City. Jim Jones. People's Temple. Willie Brown. Harvey Rose. Michael Zwerling. "NewsScene". Mike Hegadus. I'm Johnnnnn MACCCCFlanaghan, KYA! Dr. Don Rose. KFRC. Bill Lee. Dave, your duke, Sholin. Marvelous Mark McKay. Claude Mann. Marcia Brandwynne. George Reading. Belva Davis. Ed Baxter. Bob Melrose. Al Hart. Stan Bunger. Bob Jimenez. Rita Channon. Pete Wilson KRON/KGO. Joe Kapp. Tadich Grill. Spengers. Alioto's. Tommy's Joynt. Kwik Way/Oakland. Biff's. The International Hotel. The Hookers Ball. The Days on the Green. Tower of Power. Eddie Money. The Pointer Sisters. Carlos Santana. Blue jackets. The Paramount Theatre in Oakland. Fenton's. Doggie Diner. Quinn's Lighthouse. Jenner by the Sea. Santa Cruz. Beach boardwalk. Corn dogs. Saltwater taffy. It's it's. Al Attles. Rick Barry. Charles Johnson. Phil Smith. Charlie Williams. KSFO. Lon Simmons. Al Michaels. Don Klein. Monte Moore. Charley and Humphrey. Walt Harris. Bob Wilkens. Joe Angel. John The Count Montefusco. Chuck Muncie. Joe Roth. Memorial Stadium. Jim Plunkett. Gene Washington. Kezar Stadium. The Oakland Civic Auditorium. Keystone Corner. Todd Barkin. Top Dog on Durant in Berkeley. Keystone Berkeley. Neldam's Bakery. Candlestick Park. The Oakland Coliseum. The Oakland Arena. The Cow Palace. Gensler Lee Diamonds: the store with the heart! Top of the Hill, Daly City! Eddie Alexander: Good luck everybody! Gregg Jordan. Russ Coughlin. Bill Fiset. Gary Fiset. Golden Gate Productions. FM Productions. The Fillmore. Winterland. Joel Selvin. Dick Bright. Alex Bennett. Gil Haar. Mike Pechner. Harry Geiss. The US Festivals. Steve Wozniak. Roy Steele. Kenny Stabler. Art Thoms. Billy Kilmer. Nate Thurmond. Glenn Dickey. KDIA. KFOG. KSAN. KPFA. Dario's Pizza. Mel Belli. 700 Montgomery Street. K101. Playland at the beach. Snow cones. Kasper's hotdogs. Boz Scaggs. The Balboa Café. Perry's on Union Street. Tower Records. The Marina Safeway. Victoria Station (and tell 'em Johnny Cash sent you!)

I'm tired.

Inevitably, I left someone or something out. Apologies.

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Fifty Shades Of Live Shots

 We'll, here she comes! The day of cinematic reckoning has arrived and every sensory woman on the planet is just plain thrilled but probably won't admit it.

Anyway, that's another story altogether, this is about the movie, Fifty Shades of Grey, which I hear is sort of crappy, but I digress.

An American phenomena born not long ago is hype and La Fifty is full of hype, excess baggage, or whips and chains in this case.

You've already seen it on Twitter and Facebook, the usual suspects. YouTube didn't want to be left out either and you're going to get a healthy dose of Fifty hype-manifesto on Friday and Saturday, (which appropriately enough is Valentine's Day--hey kids, stay away from the multiplexes!)

A lull in the otherwise dull 11 PM News: TV crews outside the theatre, reporter with microphone to 30-something Daphne in Walnut Creek: Reporter: "Tell me, you saw the film, what did you think of it?" --Daphne: "Amazing, totally amazing, frankly, I'm a bit surprised, --I mean, the whole whips thing was kind of weird, but really, it was amazing!"

I think good microwave pizza is amazing. I wish I could swing a date with her--that would be really amazing! This other stuff? Not so much. But hey, it's Friday night. And we all know about slow news days and nights and so even if a lot of us don't really give a shit about the movie, we will no matter what because, after all, that's life.


Whip it! Whip it good!


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Ask Rich Lieberman

 OH, It's another 'Ask Rich Lieberman'--a year-end edition and the most popular segment on the 415 Media Blog, so ask away.

You may also ask me a question on Twitter, because I'm accountable.

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'F**ck Her Right In The Pussy' Becomes Serious Business For Lots Of People; Oh Please, Relax

 DOES ANYONE HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR ANYMORE?

So some teenage kid shouts a stupid obscenity that's become a 2014 version of bababooey, big deal.

Everyone reacts as if some horrible tragedy occurred; that a natural disaster struck the Bay Area and thousands of people got plunked.

I don't condone what took place; it's idiotic at best but it doesn't affect our lives one way or another, hell, I've seen and witnessed worse. The whole stupidity of it all kind of makes me laugh and will continue to make me laugh. We're talking about a kid who shouts some insignificant banter toward some obviously shaken reporter. She reacts as if her newborn suddenly was pelted by a meteor --sure, is it unsettling? Yeah, for about a nanosecond before calm is restored and everybody watching, including some of her comrades back at the station, laughs out loud. Like I said the whole thing is so ludicrous, so amateurishly dumb and non-neutered you have to bellow. I sure did.

It wasn't the first of these live-shot impromptu performances and it won't be the last. OMG, but Rich, he shouted, "F**ck her right in the pussy!" I love America. A place where expletive and obscenity is met with scorn, disgust and shock yet parents take their kids to the movies and see heads exploding, people getting murdered and maimed, over-the-top violence, yet some doofus on a bike yells pussy and the Bay Area is outraged and shocked. Come on people you're better than that, don't be Toledo.

You want real disgust and genuine outrage? My cable bill just arrived in the mail and it's over $300. Damn! You want outrage? I got your outrage. Chill folks, relax, worry about the big things in life. Forget about some kid that's probably eating some pizza right now and playing with his X-Box.

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Raining On Your Parade; Retro Radnich Is Good On KNBR; Poor KTVU; Darya Likes KRON Reporter Mad Bum Undies; UPDATE 1: Little Kid Screws With KTVU, (Video)

 I've been going back and forth --TV and radio--everything I expected, too much to absorb, you knew that was coming and you were right.

There's a parade coming.

I finally gave up early before the festivities when some bizarre KRON reporter showed his Mad Bum underwear to always-reliable-giddy, Priestess herself, Darya Folsom.

Darya to reporter: "Hey, you're wearing my underwear!" --

Some things are best unsaid. I'll leave that for you.

It's hard to crash parades particularly when you're dealing with a catch-22 equation. How dare YOU rip our Giants! Well, I like the Giants. It's our noble media mavens who should take a step back, like...

*KTVU: I mean, for god's sake, you've certainly cemented yourself. When normal people goin' nuts in the orange and black booster club complain, you know something's wrong. I'll say it again with an addition: I can't find fault with KTVU slobbering over itself; after all, it aired the World Series and covered the obligatory Giants/fan/SF Bay region orgasm; all within the realm of conducting business and making money, and that's what it's all about, M.O.N.E.Y.

That being said, like a lot of you, I was sickened by anchors wearing orange ties and alleged reporters acting like the lunatic fringe. Do your job. OK, have fun too, but try to report, not succumb to the Darya card.

*Gary Radnich on KNBR: Radnich was by himself on Knibber this morning and was good. He's always good when he's alone. He didn't tow the line; he explained that indeed the Giants, their fans, all of you, Bay Area, have it good. But don't get too nuts and show a little deference --I'm slightly paraphrasing but it all sounded good. Moreover, it was a welcome respite from the sound and fury of his sidecars. When Radnich is by himself and devoid of the platoon, he can be Retro Radnich, which is both entertaining and refreshing.

*Check back for updates --maybe, maybe not. Depends on my mood.


UPDATE 1: Little Kid screws with KTVU, (Caution, profanity and X-Rated).

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Ask Rich Lieberman 415 Media Wednesday

 YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, I HAVE THE ANSWERS ABOUT BAY AREA MEDIA...

RADIO/TV/ANCHORS, THE SCENE BEHIND THE SCENES...NEWS/SPORTS/ENTERTAINMENT AND MORE

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Robin Williams Death; The Day After; KPIX Interviews Guy Who Was in AA With Williams; Gets Ripped By Staffer; Chopper Saturation over Williams Tiburon House

 MUSINGS ...REFLECTIONS...

I was watching some comedian one night in the early 90's in SF, I forget who it was --it really doesn't matter and out of the blue the MC announces, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a special guest in town, please welcome, Robin Williams." Predictably, crowd goes wild.

It was the Punchline on Battery, late on a Thursday night. Williams was a regular --a regular pop-in many times. Not just the Punchline, but the Holy City Zoo on Clement and the old Cobb's Comedy Club.

In the same time period I was a regular judge for the yearly SF Stand-Up Comedy Competition. That was when comedy was hot and many of the clubs were thriving. Williams was front and center in the city's comic zeitgeist and the owners were thrilled. It all sort of jelled together.

*Bob Sarlatte, Jim Giovanni, Will Durst, Bobby Slayton, Larry "Bubbles" Brown, Dana Carvey, Mark Pitta, just some of the comics in the city that knew Robin, knew him well. Must not leave out John and Ann Fox, producers and founders of the Comedy Competition.

MEDIA COVERAGE...

Didn't see a lot --had prior dinner commitments. Michael Zwerling, the owner of KSCO Radio, called me on the phone a little after 4 yesterday afternoon to tell me the news...Switched immediately over to CNN where Don Lemon broke the story at 4: 08...Locally, KTVU had the story first, which is appropriate given it was the TV station in "Mrs. Doubtfire." ...2 also broke the story that Williams hung himself. I don't know if that was necessary to report so early on but whatever, I just hope for KTVU's sake, they got it right...EARLY reaction was the abundance of news choppers over Williams Tiburon home. I'm not going to hit both KPIX and KGO-TV hard for chopper saturation because every station in almost every other market is guilty. It's become a sad byproduct of celebrity death--had Williams died in LA, they'd have probably had to close LAX because of helicopter activity...KPIX took a lot of heat on Twitter for reporting that "a guy in AA saw Williams in rehab only weeks earlier." Whatever, I've heard worse...PIX too interviewed their own employee about Williams. Everyone needs a storyline, including PIX...Good work, KRON, which pretty much stuck by the basic handbook: respectable live shots, interviews and honest reporting from the anchor desk...It was inevitable everyone in town immediately had to send a crew to Broadway and Steiner, the 'Doubtfire house...Dear KGO and KCBS: could we hold off a day for interviews with therapists describing the "demons" that caused Williams depression. Truth is, we ALL don't know a damn thing yet. Yeah, he was depressed and he was probably back on the bottle and pills too but let's hold off on early diagnosis.

Much more to say later...

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Robin Williams

The Culture

Celebrity Death


UPDATE: 8: 15 AM PT:

From a KPIX5 staffer: "We interviewed a guy who was in AA with Robin, (Sharon Chin did the story)...it's on our Facebook page and people are outraged. We, (PIX), should have respected the AA code of honor--AA means Anonymous!!--Ugh."
UPDATE 2: 9: 52 AM PT:
Ed Cavagnaro, News Director, from KCBS just told me via e-mail that KCBS has stopped running the Williams-AA meeting story. Note: The "guy" KPIX and KCBS interviewed in the story turns out to be a PIX cameraman. Ouch.

The Blogger and Seductress: A Dilemma

 Recently I got this interesting e-mail: it was subtle yet blunt too.


A little background.


About a month ago I attended this industry mixer. After work shindig at a hotel bar downtown. Mostly behind-the-scenes TV people from here and around the state.


I met this one rather striking woman--she was in her mid 40's, worked in Sacramento and was some mid-level news staffer at a local TV station. We chatted briefly--she'd mentioned she read my material and liked 415 Media. Nothing out of the ordinary just your basic innocuous biz chit-chat. I moved on and meandered over to the veggie display.


We bumped into each other, again, at the wine set-up. I'd asked if she'd like to share a glass. She accepted. Mind you this was nothing serious, we're talking a harmless glass of red wine with a woman who had a big fat wedding ring on her, but with a caveat. She mentioned, several times, that she was separated. Separated, but married nonetheless. After more rather frivolous conversation except for the fact she was laughing at my jokes, (self-induced two glasses of wine-assisted), I gave her my card and we moved on. She had a late night dinner meeting planned with friends and we parted.


So back to the e-mail. Out of the blue, I get a message. It was from her. She mentioned she was coming to the city for some business on a weeknight and inquired if I'd want to meet her for some drinks and dinner. She'd buy.


My first thought was, "Boy this sounds interesting--go for it." Then I sort of wondered. What was she expecting? Cynical thought too, maybe she was just being nice and looking for companionship--after all, she's separated. But married too. Some of you might be thinking, "oh, shit, gimme a break, seriously, you damn idiot, march on over and meet with her!"


She's a striking 10. She's HOT! Maybe I'm a fool. But I'm having second thoughts. Am I being set up? Is this all an attempt to influence me? Maybe she just likes me but anything more on the horizon is a problem for me, (and her too), because she's married. Oh, did I mention she has kids too. But I digress.


Would it be ethical to meet with a married woman in the business in an evening encounter of dinner and drinks? It's complicated.


Naturally, a part of me says to hell with it and just go have fun. After all, we are adults too and besides, maybe she's just lonely and wants to meet up and have fun, nothing beyond the perimeter. Yes, of course it could be something else and I know you know what I'm referring to--and that's my dilemma.


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Ask Rich Lieberman 415 Media

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Uh, Guess What KGO's Ama Daetz and KPIX5's Juliette Goodrich Are Having for Dinner?

 I just asked KGO-TV anchor Ama Daetz what she's having for dinner? I'm a snacker and I'm in the field so I packed carrots and hummus, protein bar, raw almonds, peanut-butter and jelly on sandwich thin and some wheat thins.

 Juliette Goodrich: A Cesar salad with homemade croutons and my favorite champagne, Vieuve.

Lieberman assessment and embellishment: While acknowledging the health elements of both of the featured SF TV News performers, I myself will be munching on a hot turkey sandwich and Pilsner at Tommys Joynt.

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Separated at Birth: Alex Trebek and Mark Ibanez