SAN FRANCISCO

Lee  Heidhues 5.22.2026

San Francisco has been a leader culturally and politically for decades.

The international City by the Bay has broken  ground with its hiring of renowned Elim Chan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elim_Chan to be its 🎶 music director. The first woman to take the podium as director at Davies Hall in the symphony’s 115 year storied history.

Ms. Chan, 39, will formally assume her role in September 2027.

Elim Chan will take the helm next year and will follow in the wake of the late Michael Tilson Thomas. His recent death has left a tremendous void in the hearts and minds of San Francisco cultural life.

“After the opening glow wears away Ms. Chan will be subjected to the brutal political, cultural, and media commentariat Power Elite which has run San Francisco since its inception in the 19th century. I can only hope Emil Chan is possessed with a thick skin”. Lee’s Perspective comment. Published in The New York Times – 5.22.2026

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 5.18.2026

It’s a long way Connie Chan to the top if you want to Rock ‘n Roll.

‘Progressives’ are being taken in by Saikat Chakrabarti’s political pandering to the ‘Progressives’. Saikat is nothing more than a Carpetbagger coming to San Francisco. Thinking he can bamboozle the electorate. Saikat can’t and won’t. I am posting this is as a registered Green Party member for most of the past 35 years. For the record I am voting for Connie Chan, a San Francisco Supervisor whose politics lean left with a very practical outlook,

State Senator Scott Wiener totally disrespected Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi by trying to force her out of the race announcing his intention to challenge this San Francisco icon and speed her retirement. It was a fatal political error on his part. You just don’t make that play with San Francisco royalty.

It took too long. It is a long time in coming. And long overdue

Nancy Pelosi finally endorsed San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan in her race to succeed Ms. Pelosi in Congress.

This endorsement vastly increases Connie’s chance to enter the runoff in the November election

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 5.12.2026

Donald Trump’s love of War has no boundaries.

With no country to attack this month Trump is declaring War on the Press. Ordering Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to launch criminal investigations against the media.

The same Todd Blanche who was Trump’s defense counsel when he was convicted of over 30 felonies in a New York courthouse in May 2024.

Making a mockery of the Justice Department as an independent agency.

The latest assault on the 🇺🇸 American media.

Issuing Subpoenas to the business friendly politically conservative Wall Street Journal for its reports on the war against Iran 🇮🇷

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SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 5.11.2026

Crowded buses. Unhoused on the streets. Rampant street drug use.

“Why is this Man smiling?”🤨

It’s hard to take the San Francisco Chronicle poll seriously showing billionaire Levi’s scion Mayor Daniel Lurie has a high in the sky 74 percent approval rating.

There is an obvious chasm between the haves and have nots in San Francisco.

For the blogger who spends a lot of time amongst the common citizens  he can only ask, “Who did The Chronicle poll?”

Photos: Lee Heidhues

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 5.10.2026

I never thought that Michael Connelly, the Master criminal fiction writer with over 40 published novels, would create a masterpiece on the perils of Artificial Intelligence.

The tale tells the story of an AI creation ‘Clair’ whose 16 year old user, utilizing ‘Clair’ on his home computer, forges a relationship with ‘Clair’ and at the AI Bot’s urging murders his girlfriend for her presumed “disloyalty”.

Michael Connelly’s protagonist ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Mickey Haller takes on the case on behalf of the slain girl’s mother.

‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ brings a civil action against Clair’s creator Tidalwaiv.

It’s a sobering riveting saga. As a crime saga and courtroom drama. More importantly it introduced me to the inherent dangers of the burgeoning world of Artificial Intelligence.

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 5.9.2026

The Iranian government has done more than hold its own on the battlefield.

The Iran propaganda machine is showing it is expert practitioners in the field of media mastery.

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 5.8.2026

The San Francisco Chronicle poll reports Scott Wiener is a shoo-in to replace Nancy Pelosi in Congress next year.

The November runoff, presuming the front runner fails to garner 50% in June, will be a contest with the runner up. 

June’s runner up will be a candidate The Chronicle rhetorically labels a sacrificial lamb standing between Wiener and Washington.

Connie Chan is no Lamb. She’s a 🦁 Lioness.

There are several reasons why Connie Chan, the District Supervisor, should get the nod.

For Connie it would be five months of local and national media exposure. It would be a boon for Connie Chan and the Asian Chinese community in San Francisco.

This exposure will propel Connie Chan to the Presidency of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors next January. Her Board mates would be remiss in not selecting Connie Chan for the second most important and influential elected position in San Francisco.

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SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 4.26.2026

The blogger set out on a shopping trip to the Arizmendi Bakery and tossed himself into the Sunday human melee.

A day of the week when the Muni service is truncated, the buses are crowded and the streets are packed with shoppers and folks looking for something to eat and drink.

Happily, the Arizmendi Bakery is the destination where the blogger fills his shopping bag with an assortment of tasty muffins, scones and a big piece of coffee cake. Baked only on Sunday. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizmendi_Bakery

Leaving Arizmendi the Sunday shopper is immediately gob smacked by the crowded traffic and buses.

PHOTOS: LEE HEIDHUES

SAN FRANCISCO OUTER RICHMOND DISTRICT

Lee Heidhues 4.24.2026

The blogger never truly realized how difficult a task it is to find decent food\ in his San Francisco neighborhood.

The past several days the blogger has walked the streets, taken public transit and discovered some amazing eateries that fill the belly.

PHOTOS: LEE HEIDHUES

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 4.8.2026

Next week marks the 100th anniversary of a genuine San Francisco cinema landmark.

The Balboa Cinema, nestled in the outer Richmond District less than a mile from the Pacific Ocean, has been entertaining movie goers for the past century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balboa_Theater_(San_Francisco)

To celebrate this event the week of April 13-17 a number of classic films are on the agenda.

On April 17 two memorable movies and blogger favorites will be screened. ‘The Conversation’ (1974) filmed entirely in San Francisco. Along with ‘The Fugitive’ (1993). Harrison Ford has the lead role in ‘The Fugitive’. A younger Harrison Ford has a role in ‘The Conversation’.

‘The Conversation’ cinemaphotography of the City over 50 years ago is memorable. Never to be forgotten. Particularly is the iconic opening scene in Union Square.

The Conversation. An early and disturbing look at the Surveillance State