SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 7.19.2025

A quick glance at the San Francisco Chronicle provides a depressing and sorry snapshot of the world in 2025.

A beloved 29 year old teacher from Riordan High School in San Francisco is brutally assaulted while on vacation in Italy.

A public defender is assaulted by a former client in front of the Sonoma County Courthouse.

Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle 7.19.2025

Popular S.F. teacher and coach brutally attacked and robbed while visiting Italy

The thought kept flashing through Nicholas Pellegrino’s mind as he sat on a train station outside of Milan, blood pouring from his throat.

If the 29-year-old San Francisco high school teacher and track coach didn’t get help soon, he was going to die. 

“I had no doubt about that in my mind,” he said. “It’s a feeling of helplessness that I don’t wish on my worst enemy.”

Moments before, several passengers had attacked him, slashing his throat with a knife and robbing him.

Pellegrino, who teaches religion at San Francisco’s Archbishop Riordan High School, had traveled to Italy this month for vacation. He was looking forward to seeing relatives and friends in northern Italy.

On July 15, he’d caught a train just before noon from Melegnano, a Milanese suburb, bound for Florence. But the moment he stepped on the train, something felt off.

A few seats down, several passengers kept staring at him — then quickly looking away whenever they saw him looking back. As the train rolled into the next stop, one of them rushed him, swinging a knife.

With blood pouring from his neck, the thieves ripped the crucifix he was wearing and grabbed his backpack and luggage.

Bay Area public defender beaten and robbed by former client, police say

A former client has been arrested in an attack on a Sonoma County public defender, according to the Santa Rosa Police Department.

Leon Simms, 44, was booked into Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of robbery, attempted kidnapping, criminal threats and battery causing serious injury in the attack, police said.

Officers responded to a report of an assault outside the Sonoma County Courthouse at 12:37 p.m. Thursday, police said. Simms, who had fled the scene, struck the victim several times in the face, stole personal property, and threatened further violence and kidnapping, police said.

Top photo: Nicholas Pellegrino being treated by paramedics after having his throat slashed while riding on a train while vacationing in Italy

SAN FRANCISCO – OUTER RICHMOND DISTRICT

Liz and Lee Heidhues 7.5.2025

Bendi, the black tuxedo cat, has graced our home during the day for the past 15 months bringing joy, thrills, and constant companionship into our lives.

When Bendi is not enjoying the action in the kitchen and throughout the house, Bendi patrols our property both inside and out and climbs onto our roof, performs sentry duty along the fences and discourages vermin, such as rats, from trespassing onto our property.

His nickname is Inspector Bendi. Inspector Bendi’s curiosity is famous. He looks into every nook and cranny in our house to satisfy his insatiable appetite for adventure.

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 7.4.2025

Happy 4th of July America.

My daughter got me up to speed on the Billy Joel old time (1989) political rock ‘n roll…

I found a video which best encapsulates Billy Joel’s musical stroll through the decades of the second half of the 20th century concluding as the Cold War ended in 1989.

And look what we have now!!

It all makes sense.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Didn%27t_Start_the_Fire

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 6.29.2025

Lalo Schifrin, whose soundtrack is an integral part of Bullitt, passed away at the age of 93. The soundtrack to Bullitt was one of his early musical creations. I have enjoyed listening to it for decades.

Bullitt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullitt is one of my favorite movies of all time. Set in San Francisco in the late 1960’s the film captures the mood of the City decades before its explosion into a hi-tech and venture capitol international hot spot.

The photography of 1960’s San Francisco, particularly downtown and North Beach are classic.

And the final scene at San Francisco International Airport is gripping.

What made Bullitt memorable is the chase scene which traverses the streets of the City and ends up in the fiery crash outside the City limits.

“Everybody tells me how great the music for the chase in “Bullitt” is. I didn’t do any music for the chase. Four minutes before the chase, where there is a foot chase in the hospital, I build and build the suspense and the tension. And finally when Steve McQueen finds a way to get to the freeway, at that moment the music stops suddenly. I told the director it would be a mistake to continue the music on the chase. What you have is two cars, the villain’s and Bullitt’s, and they have different sounds. Sometimes you put the camera in the corner of one of the hilly streets of San Francisco and you don’t know what car is coming, so the audience should hear the sounds of the car, so they know whether the villain or Bullitt is coming. You know what? It worked.” – Lalo Schifrin interviewed in 2003 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalo_Schifrin

Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 6.29.2025

Lalo Schifrin, the trailblazing composer whose music helped define the sound of 1970s action cinema and turned San Francisco into a sonic landmark for filmgoers around the world, died Thursday of complications from pneumonia. He was 93.

Schifrin’s jazz-inflected, rhythmically daring scores for Steve McQueen’s “Bullitt” (1968) and Clint Eastwood’s “Dirty Harry” (1971) helped establish the musical identities of two of the most iconic films ever set in the Bay Area. 

With a deft mix of suspense, funk and atmospheric cool, Schifrin’s work elevated car chases down Potrero Hill and showdowns at Aquatic Park into unforgettable cinematic moments.

Top photo: Steve McQueen as SFPD Detective Frank Bullitt grabs a San Francisco Chronicle from the news rack.