Castro Halloween 2008 Lives Again & AT&T Park Halloween Fizzled

Hot from the news folks at KPIX, their 11PM news broadcast reports that while the streets are closed in the Castro for this Halloween 2008, people still came to celebrate in the sidewalks and the businesses were wide open. Looks like the Castro's economy will prosper from this event, you need food and drink when you wear a costume and sweat to death in a mask.

And as for the city's "Official" event in the parking lot at AT&T Park... it fizzled! KPIX reports that attendance was only 2,000 and an official from the Entertainment Commission was expecting five times that number. The city estimates the event they planned, costs $500,000, and it looks like by the very dismal attendance, the city would have likely lost about $430,000 (2000 people, and multiply that by $35 admission fee per person, subtract that by 500,000).

The Entertainment Commission representative blames poor publicity (naa, blame yourself for thinking of this idea out your asshole).

Well hell, it was poor publicity from the start. Who the hell would want to party at a parking lot, where the vendors charge insane prices for food, charge money for admission, get pat searched down before entering, the T-Third line only runs single train cars (limited capacity), and AT&T Park's insane parking rates for these "special events."

So once again, our beloved (now moronic) city officials, and as always, David Perry, screwed-up again!

Let's point out the real bad things that went wrong:

• The city more than likely wasted even more money than last year. Last year was just a shut-down of the Castro (estimated $300,000) with anti-Halloween promotion by David Perry ($40,000), but this year is the huge financial loss of the AT&T Park festival ($430,000) and still paying for cops and city officials at the Castro (unsure, but at least $50,000).
• The retailers who paid for a space at AT&T park with the expectation of 10,000 people, got no business.

Oh hell, I'll just make it simple, Castro next year!

If you went to the Castro, thank you for giving a big middle finger and "FUCK YOU" to Gavin Newsom, Bevan Dufty, and David Perry. Now do you trust your city officials? No... that's why I should be Mayor. I'd kick anyone's ass who really deserves it. Up first, Muni's union.

Lastly, my poll shows a landslide victory for me to wear the Arnold outfit. So here's the photos!

Why do people insult Ethnic Studies?

40 years ago, San Francisco State University was home to the longest student led strike in American history, and this created the school (now college) of Ethnic Studies, and is the only such "College" in the entire United States.

I respect that, regardless of the insane violence, police clashes, and everything else. SFSU is home to something really special.

Even for me, I thought I would go into a career of being an English teacher for the public high schools, but my new love came to Asian American Studies. I knew I had a great background way before college because of my deep connections to the Japanese American community (Japantown) in San Francisco, and the respect of the members of the community who believe my late grandmother is the hero of the community for being one of the major leaders of the Japanese American redress movement.

The 40th anniversary is a proud moment for SFSU, and it's not just history. The classes offered today provide a wide opportunity to learn about ethnic cultures (other than white/European American), and especially amazing is you can learn about one specific ethnicity in three different courses including history, psychology, and literature. Even more is that the interdisciplinary courses discover things like the film industry, how it relates to today's modern U.S. government, and even mixed heritage studies. And whether or not you realize it, some popular local celebrities were also part of our family, including Malou Nubla who attended Professor Dan Gonzales' class and also was head of PACE (Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavor), and comedian Rex Nevarrette who respects the college for giving him a career in comedy.

And I'm proud to be part of this wonderful group, not just a B.A. degree holder in Asian American Studies, but also I'm close to earning my M.A. in the same topic too.

Yet... out of all this great news and pride, comes the sour part to all of this. I recently posted a comment on the SFGate comment boards noting my appreciation for the College and its programs, but soon later got pelted by others saying that Ethnic Studies is an insult. Including one literally pointing out that I won't have any kind of career (stating that I will be working at some fast food joint).

It almost seems that Ethnic Studies in college today has to be defended every single day in this country.

So here's my arguments/defense towards those insults:

• Yes, I do have a career. I work part-time as an Administrative Assistant while I work on my Master's degree. My knowledge in ethnic studies earns a high degree of respect in my field because of the uniqueness and very diverse population of people we work with.
• James Hirabayashi was the first dean of the school of Ethnic Studies at SFSU, and he stated that as students and graduates of the Ethnic Studies program, it becomes our responsibilities to use the knowledge we received and apply that to our communities. So therefore, there is a career for people like me!
  
• Elementary through high school teaches the Eurocentric point of view, and people rarely learn about the other views of so called "American history." Ethnic Studies gives that other view of history. Ethnic Studies also tells about the history that the Eurocentric view would never talk about, for example the International Hotel controversy in San Francisco's Manilatown, and why San Francisco's Chinatown looks "Oriental" when rebuilt after the huge fire after the 1906 earthquake.
• Without Ethnic Studies, ethnic communities in the SF Bay Area would lack the leadership and proper knowledge about the history of the ethnic group(s) they represent. The Japantown community has leaders who are well versed in the topic of Japanese American culture, with many who have taken ethnic studies or have teached Asian American Studies to other students.
• Without Ethnic Studies, who will teach their children (or future children) about their ethnic background(s)? I don't have a child, but if he/she asked me about their ethnic heritage, I would tell them the whole story about my Japanese and Chinese heritage, thanks to the folks of Ethnic Studies.
• A particular example of passing on Ethnic Studies to the young is a program known as PEP. Volunteer students from SFSU teaches young Pilipino students in High School about their culture through a very unique teaching style that is being recognized nationally as a way to teach ethnic studies to people who are not of college age.
  
• Research about ethnic groups (other than whites) is absolutely necessary today. The birth of Asian American Studies has spurred a lot of research in just the last forty years, investigating issues from Chinese Americans involved with Christianity, and how ethnic beauty pageants can be controversial.
• Without an Asian American Studies background, I would have not been able to lead and defend Japantown in 2006 when major properties were put up for sale, equaling about 1/3 (one-third) of the entire community. Without my vast knowledge about Japanese Americans, I could not have started a petition drive that received over 16,000 signatures, and write empassioned messages to other ethnic communities asking for their help. For example: I contacted a bunch of my Pilipino American friends and explained to them that losing Japantown is just like losing the I-Hotel, and Japanese Americans were there when the I-Hotel was under attack by riot cops trying to evict the tenants.
  
• Ethnic Studies is not a waste of a college's/university's money. It demonstrates that educational institutions needs to teach about other views of American history. One example: Eurocentric American history might just seldom mention about the Japanese American Internment Camps and a brief history about how they won redress. Asian American Studies focusing on Japanese American Studies gives their take to the whole camp and redress experiences through many readings and since it's specific to Japanese American history, can really focus on what makes this topic so important. Try asking detailed questions to a Eurocentric American history teacher... they might say "go see an Ethnic Studies professor for help" (then, they'd get fired for lack of knowledge).

There's my main points to this. If you still feel that Ethnic Studies is a waste of college resources and an insult to Universities, then come see me, and I'll drag your butt to people I know who will whip you into shape. I used a similar defense during the time when Japantown's festivals were recently threatened and noted that those people who wrote those mean spirited letters should come see me, and I'd let them meet the people in-person, the hard working volunteers that gets paid nothing other than seeing their community thrive and be proud. Some of them have been active in the Japantown community for over 40 years, now that's real respect and pride right there.

There's a reason why I quote Professor Dan Begonia on the bottom of my blog, I respect that guy for giving me the power to be a proud Asian American, and to continue on the tradition of promoting Ethnic Studies by leading our ethnic communities to a bright future.

(Photograph from left to right: Jon, Melissa, and myself. The three of us are part of the Master's program in Asian American Studies at SFSU.)

Wasted San Francisco Tax Money on Lame 2008 Anti-Halloween Campaign - Again!

Looks like the city invested more of our wasted tax dollars on that bastard David Perry and Associates to make another "Home for Halloween" bullshit.

(If you are wondering why I feel that David Perry was paid with taxpayer money, look at the website, on the bottom left of Perry's site has the City and County of San Francisco's seal and sponsored by Newsom himself!)

So... let's see what kind of David Parry created shit he did this time.

It looks like my tax dollars went into updating his childish looking "Home for Halloween" website: http://www.homeforhalloween.com/

And notice the good ol' graphic (down below)? Yep, once again, it looks like a damn five year old made the graphic. And it's the same one he used last year! So really, his expense for creating this childish graphic is ZERO.



And now they have... YouTube (or they call "BooTube" videos)... but I like to call them BullshiTUBE videos because they once again make low quality commercials/PSAs that these local TV stations will NOT likely air it:

• KTVU (Fox 2)
  
• KNTV (NBC 11)
• KPIX (CBS 5)
• KGO (ABC 7)
• KQED (like who in their right minds would put it on PBS?)
• KOFY (TV 20)
• KBCW (CW 44)

But of course, there's always one station that will air the shitty commercials... KRON! Where do you think they got the studio space to make their BullshiTube quality videos? And if you produce a commercial at one TV station, the competitor stations will realize that "I don't want to air that material on my station because we are competing against them."

So make an effort to piss off David Perry... vote with "one star" on his stupid ass videos. And also... YouTube comments on his new vids are open! So go ahead and piss him off that way too. Remember David Perry... if you delete YouTube comments, you sponsor government censorship, since taxpayers are paying for you to promote "Home for Halloween."

Oh... and don't forget his "Home for Halloween" blog too! It seems that although he is getting a huge wad of cash to promote "Home for Halloween," he uses BLOGGER a FREE SERVICE to conduct his "official" blog.

Makes me wonder... for the wad of taxpayer money he gets... how much is he spending? Hey Newsom, get your auditors out there and check on David Perry's expenses. If he doesn't use all the money you gave him, get it back, even if that means getting the City Attorney involved.

Let's add up David Perry's expenses (a hypothetical estimate):

• Re-using homeforhalloween.com: Zero dollars.
• Re-using childish looking pumpkin, skull, and ghost graphic: Zero dollars.
• Using Blogger to make his "Home for Halloween" blog: Zero dollars.
• Making low quality commercials at the KRON studios: Zero dollars.
• Getting it aired on KRON: Zero dollars.
• Getting it aired on other TV stations: Not applicable.
• Hiring unknown celebrities to be part of the commercials: One $1 cheeseburger at McDonalds.
• Using YouTube to promote the commercials: Zero dollars.
• A make your own "Home for Halloween" contest for money: $750 of taxpayer money (given as a prize) for something that hardly anyone wants to make an ad for.
  
• (And just to add to this, I learned that last year's winner was the ONLY person who entered, and let me tell you, his video was crap... and the guy who made the video agreed!)
  
• People coming to the Castro on Halloween to give Bevan Dufty and David Perry the middle finger: Priceless.

Taxpayer money can buy a P.R. organization to tell you to get the fuck away from the Castro, but the people will still come.

Always remember... Akit's Complaint Department is watching you David Perry. Akit is always looking out for the San Francisco taxpayers to make sure that our government leaders are not wasting money on bullshit stuff.

And... Bevan Dufty is still a liar. I love this photo I found on Castro Halloween's website!


Did anyone notice that the Castro Halloween website is now in cohoots (better known as having sex with or sleeping with) the folks making up that 2008 Halloween event at AT&T Park? So now... the organization for "Halloween in the Castro" and David Perry's PR business is both supporting the AT&T Park Halloween bash. What the hell is going on around here? Last year it was the "Halloween in the Castro" organization did not want the city to shut down the neighborhood, and David Perry was sponsored by Newsom and taxpayer money to tell you to scram.

For all you readers, do me a favor, go have fun in the Castro for Halloween. Last year's closure crippled their economy. So buy that slice of pizza and get your beer and enjoy. Make sure you don't tick off the cops, it looks like the city will waste (once again) hundreds of thousands of dollars of our tax money to "shut down" the Castro once again. Just please, don't bring the FBI (is Osama going to pee on the streets?) and the SWAT sharpshooters (as confirmed by KTVU news last year).

Disclaimer: I can't really prove that David Perry received a wad of taxpayer money to sponsor the 2008 anti-Castro Halloween campaign, but if you see the City's official seal and noting that is sponsored by Mayor Newsom's office on Perry's website, then there is a very good possibility that there was some kind of financial payment of taxpayer dollars made to David Perry.

Goodbye KFRC-FM, San Francisco Will Miss You

CBS Radio has just dug its own grave today. Word from the folks at the San Francisco Chronicle is that KFRC-FM radio will be changing formats to something entirely different. They are planning to drop the music segment and simulcast their KCBS-AM news station on the FM dial.

KFRC has been a San Francisco institution for decades. I remember as a kid listening to all the great oldies songs, including all the Beach Boys and Beatles tunes. I still remember that KFRC on the 610 AM dial was the only San Francisco station that can be heard all the way from Donner Summit, about 300 miles away from San Francisco, and they even played the oldies at Ikeda's in Auburn, which is about 200 miles away and the official halfway point for the trip to Reno.

I really got disappointed when KFRC was kicked-off the 99.7 portion of the radio dial for their new "Movin" themed music station and KFRC had nowhere to go.

Then a glimmering light came out of the sky, that annoying talk radio station on 106.9 was kicked off (Adam Carolla must have done a bad job) and KFRC was reborn, but it felt like it was missing a leg and an arm by rebranding it as "Classic Hits."

It was nice to hear both oldies tunes and some of the best of the 70's and 80's, and these tunes that I've heard on the station now compliment my great iTunes collection. But then... an unnecessary evil came around: A's Baseball. Who would have knew that putting A's baseball broadcasts on a music station would be the most annoying crap ever? I want my tunes! Sports games are supposed to be aired on AM stations. Literally, AM stations are made for news, talk, and sports. FM stations are made for music.

Anyone remember Z 95.7 (KZQZ) and really made themselves a niche in this competitive radio market in San Francisco? They always played the most popular and newest tunes coming out on MTV. They really had the ball going, and I even won $100 by being caller #9. But the radio managers had to do the worst investment ever to the station by turning it into... (grumble) country music. I mean, they switched just like that and ruined the station's reputation forever.

It's so bad that radio stations pull this switcharoo in the worst manner. In nearly all cases, they simply light a stick of dynamite with a very short fuse, and boom! the station changes in a snap. All the personalities gets laid off immediately, and here comes some new genere. Us KFRC fans are being given a week's notice to prepare for this, but this is the end for KFRC.

Bye bye KFRC, I will sure miss you. Please come back soon.

Idiot Parks in USPS Drive Thru Mailbox Lane

What's wrong with this photograph? (If you can't see the photo, please go directly to: http://www.akit.org)

Well today, I had to drop off some very important mail at the post office at the Lakeshore Plaza USPS post office in San Francisco. They also feature a drive thru drop-off mailbox since parking can be a little difficult at this location.

So I get there, and this clown messes it up for everyone. What's wrong with the photo?

• Parks car in the drive thru.
• Parks car the wrong way.
• Parks car in a no parking zone.
• Pisses off everyone.
• Driver is nowhere to be seen, not even the post office.
  

And just to add to the suspense and humiliation, other than posting it on my blog and Flickr photo page, the security guard came by and took a photo of the license plate to send the driver a citation.

Do you know who this person is? California License Plate: 6BUA854.

Lastly, vote for Akit's Halloween costume! Will he wear the Bill "I Miss Monica" Clinton costume, or will he wear the Arnold "KAA-LEE-FORN-YA" Schwarzenegger costume? Vote on left column on my blog site: http://www.akit.org.

Fed Up with Political Advertising - LEAVE ME ALONE

An open letter to any political group, organization, and individuals involved in political advertising:

Please STOP telling me to vote for somebody, some state or local proposition, or participate in some kind of political survey.

Why am I telling you to stop? It's so simple that if you don't understand it, maybe you should ship your dumb ass back to college or get your GED:

1. I've already voted.
2. I've voted by mail.
3. I CAN'T REVERSE MY VOTE.

Maybe there should be a law that if you register as a permanent absentee that citizens should stop getting daily advertising in the mail, and harassing phone calls once the ballots are mailed out. If people have already voted via mail or visiting City Hall, what a waste of trees and people's time to mail crap and call you.

And I honestly don't care if you are from some labor union telling me that somebody is an evil person and should not be voted. I don't give a crap what you say. I vote for who I want, I don't care if my votes support one political party over another because I vote for what I feel is RIGHT.

And out of personal experience, I used to work for a polling place and a lady asked for some help filling out her ballot. She pulled out this card she got from her mail that told her to vote for such and such candidate and proposition, and I was saying to myself: "you have to be fucking kidding." If you can't think about the truth and consequences of your vote by looking at an ad telling you to vote for, maybe you should not vote.

And especially for any of you who call people for hours on end... JUST STOP CALLING ME. I'm really serious, DON'T CALL. I am about this close to getting a lawyer to cram a lawsuit so far up your butt, or demanding to speak to your supervisor for your resignation. And you call at the most obscure hours too, like when I'm EATING DINNER. Hey, I just want to watch the Simpson's and eat my dinner, leave me be.

And another thing, how about those automated messages? I think there' s a law where if you hang up, the message must stop after five seconds. Well the last few annoying ass calls I received DIDN'T HANG UP IN 5 SECONDS. And how about saying at the beginning of the message: "If you do not want to listen to this message and NEVER BE CALLED AGAIN, PRESS ONE." Simple, easy, and bother free. Or how about for every message you leave, you at least say "This is a political message," then I can simply hang up.

And for all you jackasses out there: I shred any mailed political ads immediately without reading them. I may just consider blacking out my address and mailing it back to you in big black letters in saying "go fuck yourself." Phone calls get the standard treatment (for now), a pissed off Asian American guy ready to cuss like a sailor.

So to summarize this, LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE.

BREAKING NEWS - Ed Jew Pleads GUITY

That SCUMBAG ED JEW is going to have a pleasant time in PRISON...

HE just pleaded guilty in Federal court to charges of bribery, extortion, and plans to accuse others.

Now... we just need to get is stupid ass convicted for LYING about his RESIDENCY (a.k.a. elections fraud).

Why would this bastard lie about his residency? When DA Harris issued the warrant for his arrest, he surrendered to police at Burlingame. Burlingame is where his other "home" is located.

Stupid stupid stupid.

Remember Ed, prisons don't offer tapioca drinks, and extortion and bribery only works on fellow inmates so you don't become someone's "bitch."

More about this story here.

Also, I just fucked around with his wikipedia page. Hope he likes it.

SF Supervisor Bevan Dufty - Liar and Castro's Halloween Killer

Word is going around that the City and County of San Francisco is not going to host the 2008 Castro Halloween.

As you can recall from last year and postings here at the Complaint Department, the 2007 Castro Halloween was canceled by the city and the city actually spent their money paying for insane amounts of police overtime, and other city staffing expenses to shut down the Castro, and that really hurt the neighborhood's economy and reputation.

Oh, and don't forget the wasted $40,000 of MY TAX MONEY campaign by David Perry & Associates to tell people to stay away from the Castro in 2007. They made cheap and crappy PSAs/TV commercials that received one to three star ratings on YouTube (see here) and every local TV station refused to air the commercial except for KRON (the least watched and worst station in the city), used Blogger (a free service) to make blog postings, and made posters that looks like a kindergarten student did it. Plus, they used my tax money for GOVERNMENT SPONSORED CENSORSHIP, they erased and blocked all comments and ratings on their YouTube videos, and erased all negative comments from their "Home for Halloween" blog. And just to note, I made those negative comments that got erased. If they didn't want comments, they should have shut it off before posting those YouTube videos and that blog.

Now, the "City that knows how" to fuck up San Francisco wants you to get the hell away from the Castro again. If I can, I'd slap the Entertainment Commission people in the back of the head, with my belt.


Supervisor Bevan Dufty
And you are wondering, why do I have San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty's photo on here? Well, this person PROMISED ON LOCAL TV CAMERAS and the NEWSPAPERS that he will return the event to the Castro in 2008.

Straight from the horse's mouth (or may I say ass):

""I'm not shutting down the neighborhood again," Dufty said Friday, acknowledging that the city's request cost some owners tens of thousands of dollars in revenue." (Chronicle 11/3/08, click here for article)

So now the liar says this in a recent article from the Bay Area Reporter:

"With Castro bars not facing a similar shutdown this year, and the city's plans to hold a free event near the Giant's ballpark moving forward..." (Bay Area Reporter Online 10/9/08, click here for article)

Well well well... Bevan Dufty makes promises that are not true. Do you know what I call people who don't tell the truth? A LIAR! A BIG FAT LIAR. DON'T EXPECT TO GET RE-ELECTED WHEN CAMPAIGN POSTERS IN THE CASTRO SAY:

DUFTY = LIAR AND HALLOWEEN KILLER

So now, the City is sponsoring this "San Francisco Halloween Festival 2008" on Halloween at the parking lot at AT&T Park, one of the worst places to even hold an event in this city.

AT&T Park Lot "A" equals bad idea
Let us go over the list of reasons why AT&T Park's Lot "A" is a terrible place. One: AT&T's parking lots are not easily accessible by Muni. We've got the "T" line, which stops right next to it, but do you realize that the platform they use for that line is only suitable to run one-car trains? That means LOW CAPACITY. Also, AT&T Park will try to gouge you as best they can, and they'll do it by charging for parking. Regular baseball games run about $30 a car, but special events similar to the shows like Cirque at the parking lot charges $20 a car. And don't forget the food, the City is already looking for greedy for-profit food booths that are used in events like the Fillmore Jazz Festival who charge a huge amount of money for food to its patrons.

So what does that mean for the Castro? That means an especially bad time for their economy. When they did have these festivals, the Castro's economy got a big boost because people needed food to eat and things to drink. So by cancelling Castro again and this economy going into a possible big recession, the Castro will suffer with the loss of revenue to the neighborhood. Why not bring it back to the original home of Halloween fun? And even last year during the shutdown, a couple of bars were open and lines were out the door! That shows you what kind of brisk business would have happened if the Castro was opened.


(Photo from City and County of San Francisco's website; public domain since my tax dollars pay for that photo and website)

Please note: My apologies if you subscribed and received a blank posting with only Dufty's photo on it.

Costco Gives Back Early Hour to Executive and Business Members

Two postings ago here at the Complaint Department, I noticed on September 26, 2008 that Costco changed their operating hours to permit their Gold Star members to enter the El Camino Real (South San Francisco) location at 10AM instead of 11AM, thereby screwing the Executive and Business members who get this special early privilege to conduct their shopping.

Well... here's something new. The photo shows now (October 3, 2008) that the policy has been reversed and Gold Star Members now have to enter at their regular time at 11AM.

Cheers to Costco for giving us Executive and Business members back our special hour!

I wonder why they reverted back the hours so quickly, like in just one week's time. Maybe it is because of my posting here at the Complaint Department and possibly the posting thread I started on Yelp. Click here for the Yelp conversation.