Category: Uncategorized

‘Audition’ – I Can’t Take it Anymore – A family dystopia

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 6.1.2025

I finished Katie Kitamura’s ‘Audition’. It certainly is a dark story. I am still trying to make sense of it. I can only conclude the unnamed narrator decides at the conclusion of this short 197 page story, “I can’t take it anymore.”

Particularly since the plot line has two distinctive threads. In the first half of the story the narrator, an accomplished stage and screen actress, establishes a relationship with a young man, Xavier. He claims to be the narrator’s son. He most definitely is not as the story unspools.

In the story’s second half Xavier is indeed the narrator’s son in a quick and jarring juxtaposition in the story line. He returns home to live with his mom, the narrator, and his father, Tomas. The entire relationship inevitably collapses. I must read ‘Audition’ a second time. It’s not so much that the story is difficult to follow, particularly in the second half.

What’s challenging is the relationship with her son Xavier, the narrator is dissecting. Why would the narrator know Xavier is not her son in the first half of the story. When in the second half, Xavier is portrayed as the son and proceeds to destroy the entire family relationship.

Xavier’s father Tomas is an integral part of this mind bending story. Initially Tomas is the strong, elusive, silent parent who welcomes Xavier home. But when Xavier precipitates the ruination of the family unit the father Tomas is a willing collaborator. He is both psychologically and physically battered in the end.

Part of which has to do with the eerie demonic Hana who moves into the New York City apartment with Xavier and his parents. The narrator has a very frosty relationship with Hana from the outset. While Tomas is obviously smitten in a way which leads to a very perverse denouement.

This is the kind of dark story which would benefit by Katie Kitamura concluding the novel with an essay about the thought process which went into the creation of this novel. The development of the plot and characters.

Katie Kitamura’s novels, and I have read several, are different in the sense the protagonist is never named. There are never any quotation marks. The sentence construction is often disjointed which ads to the fascination with her writing style. Katie Kitamura’s books are best digested in a quiet contemplative setting, Because the story lines are invariably so deep. ‘Audition’ in particular

The nuts and bolts of ‘Audition’ are straight forward.

It’s the psychological impact which merits a lot of scrutiny. And for the simple literary consumer there’s a lot to digest in ‘Audition’. As there is with the narrator who concludes without saying it, “I can’t take it anymore.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audition_(Kitamura_novel)

NYC Homegrown fascism. DHS cops handcuff Democrat rep aide

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 5.31.2025

I can’t believe what I am reading and seeing. I should.

Who said, “It can’t happen here.”?

Well, less than five months into the oligarchy of Felon Donald Trump the feds have been unleashed to terrorize and abuse. Even congressional aides are not exempt from the Police State tentacles of the wannabe American dictator.

Excerpted from The Gothamist and Politico 5.30.2025

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NYC) slammed both DHS and President Donald Trump in a statement Saturday afternoon for demonstrating “aggressive and heavy-handed tactics” and “sowing chaos” not only in his district, but across the country, as the Trump administration escalates its crackdown on immigration.

“President Trump and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are sowing chaos in our communities, using intimidation tactics against both citizens and non-citizens in a reckless and dangerous manner. In the most recent and deeply troubling incident, DHS agents forcefully entered my Congressional office and handcuffed a member of my staff,” Nadler said, adding that he was “alarmed by the aggressive and heavy-handed tactics DHS is employing in New York City and across the country.”

The New York representative also cautioned that the incident showed a “deeply troubling disregard for proper legal boundaries,” and warned that “if this can happen in a Member of Congress’s office, it can happen to anyone — and it is happening.”

In a dramatic incident captured on video, U.S. Department of Homeland Security police Wednesday handcuffed one of Rep. Jerry Nadler aides in the congressmember’s Manhattan office, which is in the same federal office building as an immigration courthouse.

In the video, which was shared with Gothamist and filmed by a person who was monitoring activity in immigration court, DHS officers entered Nadler’s district office and accused staff members of “harboring rioters.” A Nadler staffer is seen crying and being handcuffed. Another officer is at a door trying to enter a private area of the office while a staffer asks for a warrant.

DHS later said in a statement that “one individual” — the woman seen being handcuffed — had blocked police from performing a security check they intended to do based on information there were protesters in the lawmaker’s office. Later that day, protesters gathered outside of the federal building, demonstrating against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

https://gothamist.com/news/homeland-security-cops-handcuff-one-of-rep-nadlers-aides-in-chaotic-day-at-ny-fed-building

Trump the felon should be sitting in prison. America really blew it.

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 5.30.2025

One year ago today for those haven’t forgotten.

A year ago today Donald Trump was convicted by a jury of 34 felonies.

GUILTY Trump: Will it make a difference? America oblivious?

Where is this convicted felon a year later? Sitting in the White House as President when he should be locked up in a New York penitentiary.

The entire American political infrastructure is responsible for the ability of this convicted felon to manipulate the levers of power.

The American voters who fell for the lies have only themselves to blame.

This is where Donald Trump should be sitting today. Behind bars.

Trump’s entire presidency is akin to the failed American mission in Mogadishu, Somalia. American arrogance and power resulting in total failure.

Top photo: Wall Street Journal – page one – 5.31.2024

Engardio Recall. Motorists drive into the Pacific like pier clinging Barnacles

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 5.29.2025

SFiST says it best, “the ship already sailed and Sunset Dunes (is) already open as a park.”

The barnacle clinging motorists have had their tantrum and qualified the Recall of Supervisor Joel Engardio, leader of the Sunset Dunes initiative, for the ballot.

The motorists will never acknowledge they don’t own every street in San Francisco.

Never mind that the special election will be held September 16, 2025. Less than 14 months until the Supervisor would face the voters in the November 3, 2026 vote. Just 523 days away.

Never mind that San Francisco is facing an 800M budget deficit with Mayor Lurie planning to announce the layoff of 1500 city workers.

Never mind that ousting Supervisor Engardio will do absolutely nothing to bring cars back to what was formerly known as The Great Highway.

Call this mindless Recall for what it is. A political temper tantrum.

Excerpted from SFiST 5.29.2025

SF’s First Recall Election of a Sitting Supervisor Gets a Date.

A special election has been called for September 16, 2025 in which only voters in San Francisco’s District 4 will be voting, marking the first time in city history that a sitting supervisor is facing a recall. Proponents of the recall, who are largely upset about one issue alone — the closing of the Great Highway to car traffic — have been vowing for months to punish Supervisor Joel Engardio for his support of the project and the proposition that made it permanent.

The San Francisco of 1925. The barnacle like fantasy world in which those who want to Recall Supervisor Engardio exist.

Proponents of the Supervisor Joel Engardio recall would also like to see the question of reopening the Great Highway put to another vote — something that Richmond District Supervisor Connie Chan has vowed to get on the ballot again — though it’s far from clear that the results would be any different the second time around. So, with the ship already sailed and Sunset Dunes already open as a park, it’s possible that Engardio could get recalled out of spite, but the result will not be what those voters really wanted, which is the reopening of the roadway to cars.

https://sfist.com/2025/05/29/sfs-first-recall-election-of-a-sitting-supervisor-gets-a-date/

Sesame Street is where all The barnacle clinging motorists who have had their political tantrum belong.

“North by Northwest” in the northwest corner of San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO – OUTER RICHMOND DISTRICT – BALBOA THEATER

Liz and Lee Heidhues 5.25.2025

Movies are forever. When I was 12 years old my parents took me to see “North by Northwest.” It was quite racy fare for a pre-teen and remains one of my favorite films of all time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_by_Northwest

As part of a Memorial Day weekend special the soon to be 100 year old Balboa Theater is holding an Alfred Hitchcock retrospective. Last night Liz and I went to this neighborhood theater in our corner of San Francisco where we have lived nearly 50 years.

We walked into a packed theater which included people of all ages and found comfortable seats in the next to the last row. It had been mysteriously roped off and was waiting for us. It goes to show that good movies are timeless.

The ‘A-List’ cast including Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason and Leo J. Carroll is stellar. I was duly impressed when I look up Eva Marie Saint and learned she will be 101 years old on the Fourth of July. One of the most entertaining performers in the film is Jessie Royce Landis who gives a bravura portrayal playing Cary Grant’s mother. It’s classic stuff.

Jessie Royce Landis in the brown overcoat gives a bravura portrayal playing Cary Grant’s “mother.” It’s classic stuff.
Liz’ review says it all

No trip to the movie house is complete without popcorn. Kitchen master Liz dug out our 40 year old West Bend popcorn maker. Found a recipe for caramel corn and went to work. Producing a tasty treat which Liz dumped into a double paper sack and munched away as she sat transfixed during “North by Northwest.“

Blogger Lee beams as he admires the caramel popcorn. photo-Liz Heidhues
The iconic crop duster scene. It’s worth watching all nine minutes.

The omnipresent black tuxedo cat and his watchful feathered friends

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 5.25.2025

It’s a sunny Memorial Day weekend and we are happily graced by our always present vigilant feline and feathered friends.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xDQvbpXmYZ6ofVam9

The scrub jay nests in the foliage awaiting another peanut snack
The crow rests on a neighboring rooftop waiting to swoop down
The tuxedo cat rests in the sun with his friend the Heron

Temper tantrum by S.F. motorists “Definition of grassroots effort”

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 5.24.2025

What will the Recall election of Supervisor Joel Engardio, visionary leader of Sunset Dunes Park along the Pacific Coast shoreline, accomplish?

Nothing.

Except to allow a cadre of spoiled rotten entitled motorists to waste millions of taxpayer dollars when San Francisco is facing a nearly 1BN budget deficit.

Should the Recall succeed it won’t bring cars back to what was formerly known as the Great Highway.

The motorists who feel it their birthright to drive anywhere anytime will spew forth rhetorical gas fumes in the form of political posturing applauding themselves. The motorists are well aware a regularly scheduled election will be held in just over 17 months.

They don’t care. These entitled luddites have frolicked in the Sunset Dunes Park sand. They will now have their wasteful and expensive temper tantrum.

A little ‘Brand New Car’ Temper Tantrum music for the spoiled motorists

Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle 5.24.2025

“This was the definition of grassroots effort,” Albert Chow said. “We went through a ton of effort to prescreen every signature before turning it over” to the elections department.

Selena Chu, chair of Sunset United Neighbors, rallies recall supporters outside A.P. Giannini Middle School in March. Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle

San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio, who came to prominence by ousting officials through recall campaigns, now appears all but certain to face his own after recall organizers said Saturday that city election officials verified that more than 99% of signatures they sampled Friday were valid.

Supervisor Joel Engardio at opening of Sunset Dunes Park – April 12, 2025 – photo: Lee Heidhues

“I feel like David beat Goliath,” said Chow, one of the organizers of the recall. “No one told us we had a chance in hell to pull this off.”

Campaign organizers needed 9,911 valid signatures from registered voters in District 4 by May 22 to qualify for a recall election.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/supervisor-joel-engardio-recall-20344172.php

MSM ignores S.F. DA Jenkins misconduct “It’s a pandemic over there.” 

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 5.23.2025

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins is a serial abuser of her office.

By and large San Francisco’s mainstream media has given this slick political operative a pass, instead giving big play to the successful prosecutions, while ignoring the dark underside of how Brooke Jenkins performs her job.

Her years shameful historical record of prosecutorial misconduct is well documented.

Brooke Jenkins history of prosecutorial misconduct started before she quit DA Chesa Boudin’s office in October 2021, labeled herself a “volunteer” (though she was being paid over 150K) and worked as a leader in his June 2022 Recall.

Brooke Jenkins, being rewarded for her political treachery, is sworn-in as District Attorney at City Hall in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, July 8, 2022. | Paul Kuroda for The Standard

Then being awarded for her political treachery by former Mayor London Breed. Selected as DA. Her incumbency has reeked of prosecutorial misconduct. Conduct which has resulted in several complaints lodged with the California State Bar.

The latest story in the Mission Local, a sordid tale which the mainstream media chooses to ignore is illustrative of this journalistic dereliction of its duty.

Excerpted from Mission Local 5.23.2025

The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office has, under Brooke Jenkins, made a “pattern and practice” of improperly withholding evidence in both misdemeanor and felony cases, the city’s public defenders assert. 

“That is the tip of the iceberg,” said Jacque Wilson, one of two misdemeanor managers at the public defender’s office. The 50 incidents of late discovery tracked by the public defender’s office is a conservative estimate, he said, since it only includes cases where public defenders are aware of a violation. “It’s a pandemic over there.” 

Under California law, prosecutors and defenders must disclose their evidence to one another at least 30 days before trial during the discovery process. This ensures the opposing side has enough time to review evidence before a court hearing.

But in a six-month period between Sept. 1, 2024 and Feb. 28, 2025, the public defender’s misdemeanor unit says it tracked 50 incidents of the district attorney’s office failing to turn over evidence on time. 

The DA has had some of this evidence “in their possession for weeks, if not months or years, before disclosure,” wrote assistant chief public defender Angela Chan in a document sent to the Bar last month and obtained by Mission Local.

At times, she added, evidence was withheld until the eve of a trial. And “in a number of egregious cases” important evidence was not disclosed until the middle of a trial, Chan wrote.

S.F. DA has ‘pattern and practice’ of withholding evidence, public defenders allege

“These things don’t spontaneously ignite.” S.F. playgrounds torched

SAN FRANCISCO – OUTER RICHMOND DISTRICT

UPDATED – PRESS RELEASE FROM SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT

Click to access 0ce682f8-bece-4937-8636-acf447e9ca93.pdf

Lee Heidhues 5.23.2025

It torches my mind to read the news that school yards and playgrounds in this quiet neighborhood nearby the Pacific Ocean are being torched.

Destroyed by arson fire Lincoln Park playground structure – photo Lee Heidhues

Only the most mentally challenged human could engage in such a display of pyrotechnic mayhem.

Lafayette Elementary School and Lincoln Park are both a short walk from our home. Our two children spent many hours in their youth playing in both locations.

Fire equipment at Lafayette School in the outer Richmond District. photo Lee Heidhues

Liz Heidhues and I regularly walk past the sites of the conflagrations.

I had a conversation with our District police captain and told him these incidents of wanton arson are “scary.”

Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle 5.22.2025

Two playgrounds in the Outer Richmond have burned down this week, marking the latest in a string of suspicious fires at an elementary school and park that have triggered alarm among San Francisco parents. 

“These things don’t spontaneously ignite,” Fire Dept. Lt. Mariano Elias said. “But we can’t just assume it was arson.”

Burnt out Lafayette School playground

In the past three weeks, San Francisco firefighters have responded to four blazes of increasing magnitude — two at Lafayette Elementary School and another two at nearby Lincoln Park — that reduced the colorful playgrounds at both sites to charred equipment, melted plastic and burnt rubber. 

“This is starting to look like we have a serial arsonist targeting our school,” said Hallie Albert, vice president of the Parent Teacher Association at Lafayette. “We are all bewildered.” 

The San Francisco Fire Department has not labeled the fires as arson, but spokesperson Lt. Elias said they are considered suspicious. 

The first incident happened three weeks ago. Firefighters responded around 1:30 a.m. May 1 to the 4500 block of Anza Street, where they found a burning storage container in the yard outside Lafayette Elementary School, according to the fire department. 

Burnt out play structure at Lincoln Park Playground just blocks away from Lafayette School

The next week, a small fire burned a hole through a slide around 11 p.m. May 10 at the Lincoln Park playground, at 34th Avenue and Clement Street, according to the fire department. 

Then a second fire erupted at Lafayette school around 10:30 p.m. Sunday, sending black smoke billowing as bright flames devoured the playground, according to the fire department and video from the incident. 

Parents vocalized their concerns at an emergency meeting hosted Wednesday night with Superintendent Maria Su, Supervisor Connie Chan and members of the police and fire departments, who reassured the community that they are working to catch the culprit. 

Later that night, however, another fire erupted less than half a mile away — back at the Lincoln Park playground.  

The aftermath of Arson at Lincoln Park Playground – photo Lee Heidhues

Flames fully engulfed the play structure as firefighters responded around 11 p.m. Wednesday, according to the department.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/s-f-s-playgrounds-burning-down-firefighters-20341285.php

Top photo – Lafayette Elementary School playground – photo San Francisco Chronicle

This senseless arson story requires a soundtrack: Gustav Holst’s Planets: MARS BRINGER OF WAR

Flying high out of San Francisco with 150 lb. of Weed. BUSTED!!

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 5.20.2025

“So ’70s.”

That was the comment when I told someone about the bust of a passenger attempting to board United Airlines (UAL) flight 58 from San Francisco to Frankfurt.

Liz and I have taken this very same flight to Germany several times. It must have been quite a scene at the airport. What was this traveler thinking? She must have been flying high already when she arrived at San Francisco International with her stash.

Waiting to board United Airlines flight 58 to Frankfurt

Fortunately for the traveler her detention was made by California authorities where marijuana is legal.

One is left to wonder what would have happened when she arrived in Frankfurt and went through German Customs.

Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle 5.20.2025

A woman was arrested at San Francisco International Airport for allegedly attempting to smuggle 151 pounds of marijuana aboard a flight to Frankfurt, officials said this week.

Diane Bahlawan was detained May 6 at the gate before her United Airlines flight, where airport officials discovered the drugs concealed in four large roller bags. 

According to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s office, Bahlawan was carrying 131 vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana, totaling 151 pounds. 

The 34-year-old Glendale resident has been charged with two felonies for allegedly attempting to transport the 151 pounds of marijuana from San Francisco International Airport to Frankfurt, Germany, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

United flight 58 in flight map nearing Frankfurt

The woman, Diane Bahlawan, was arrested at SFO in the evening of May 6 after the 131 separately vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana were allegedly found in the four roller bags she had checked for the flight, Wagstaffe said.

Bahlawan, who has been charged with unlawful transport of marijuana and burglary, posted bail. Her next court appearance is June 2, Wagstaffe said.

The drugs were allegedly uncovered after security flagged the unusually heavy luggage.

150 lb. of Weed

In addition to the marijuana, authorities said they seized Bahlawan’s boarding pass, cellphone and $960 in cash at the time of her arrest.

Bahlawan was charged with two felonies: unlawful transport of marijuana and burglary. She has posted bail and is scheduled to appear in court for her initial arraignment on June 2.

The San Mateo District Attorney’s office indicated that further details on the case will be provided following Bahlawan’s court appearance.

FLIGHT 505 – Rolling Stones

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/sfo-marijuana-arrest-20336861.php

Top photo: Frankfurt Airport lounge – photo Lee Heidhues