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People, Places and Trends of 2000 (continued) David Mayers World Music DJ If your car battery is hooked up to your antenna, chances are you may have pulled David Mayers' program, "Blue Mountains Walking," from the ionosphere. Broadcasting every other Friday morning from 9 to noon on KKUP 91.5 FM, the program is a reliable showcase for global (as opposed to World) sounds after Mayers' candid self-description of being a "skinny guy on a mission to prove that all music is ethnic." His ambition for the next year is to develop a website that broadcasts in truly democratic fashion a musical map of the word, ethnographically rich, to play alongside complete with films so that listeners and loggers-on will have a richer sense of home and ancestral culture. (EC) Anne McGuire Videomaker What prevails in any McGuire movie is her invasive, impulsive, poetic sense of character--from the archetypal, melodramatic babblers in her recent soap operetta All Smiles and Sadness to her earlier I'm Crazy and You're not Wrong (12 or so minutes of concert hall lunacy, punctuated by a musical paean to the Waltons and love proved wrong). Concentrating in the coming year on "playlets," she's sure to keep her artful finger barely wedged in an emotional dike. (EC) Craig Melchiano Cut Creator One of four partners in the San Francisco design studio Juice Design Inc., Craig Melchiano has worked in the snowboard industry for the past three years. Along with Brett, Bob and Matt, Craig has created a Design Oasis at 351 Ninth St.--a place where design is created, artwork is displayed and amazing parties are thrown. Craig's graphics for Airwalk Snowboards can be found sweeping the slopes this winter. If you haven't already, check out the fantastic four at www.juicedesign.com. (CF) Paul Mendoza Poet/Playwright Paul's staging of his three one-act plays on single life in the city was a highlight of the local theater scene in 1998, as was his adaptation of Eric Bogosian's Talk Radio at Edinburgh Castle this past season. His book of poetry is currently on sale at City Lights Bookstore, and the next year seems even more promising. (CD) Amy Miller Producer/Host/Cinematographer Amy Miller is the multitalented host of Radio Segue on KUSF, a weekly radio magazine featuring filmmakers, artists and generally creative people. She recently camera-assisted on the American Girl Series, a female-organized and -focused project on PBS. This coming year, Amy will be releasing Witches in Exile, a documentary on women accused of practicing witchcraft in Ghana. A board member of the assembling Independent Arts and Media--an umbrella organization supporting independent artists and journalists--Amy is artistically versatile and committed to working on independent, alternative and creative media. (CF) Madeline Minx Celebrity So glamorous, so hot, so young, beautiful and talented, and yet, until recently, so ignored by the mainstream media. But after wowing the audience at the North by Northwest music festival, and gaining entrance to perform in the exclusive South by Southwest corporate treasure hunt this March, Pushy (Madeline plus noise machine gun Reid Maxwell) will always be at its best rousing San Franciscan club kids. It shan't be long till Maverick calls and Madeline becomes the Eve to Madonna's Margot. 'Cause it's all about Pushy. Always. (MS) Maxine Moerman Performance Director You may not know Maxine Moerman's name, but you probably know her work--at least by association. By setting up The Field, an interdisciplinary, collegial development workshop for new dance and performance pieces, Moerman (a dancer/choreographer by training) has given dozens of local artists a place to experiment, grow, fall down and get back up again over the past few years. A short list of the talents she's nurtured include Dan Carbone, this year's Bay Guardian "Goldie" winner (and one of our "99 to Watch" choices last year); puppeteer extraordinaire Liebe Wetzel; and mask maker/performer Nina Barlow. Moerman is one of those who can both do and teach--and does so with discerning grace and warmth. (KR) Scott Moffett Exploitation Explorer A finely chiseled fellow who, despite being ever dressed-to-the-nines and deceptively modish, stands alongside Craig Baldwin as a collector and recycler of cinematic detritus (we dare someone to approach him with another print of William Shatner's vainglorious Impulse). With a feature, A Lovely Sort of Death, under his belt, he has found a hot voodoo groove as Jacques Boyreau's co-conspirator in things Whitesploitation and Werepad. Now cast as The Leprechaun in Boyreau's psychodramatic watershed I Do, I Die, he is ever "in touch with doom" as he tolls the bell of justice for maligned, beautiful movies. (EC) Jason Monberg CTO, Sparks.com Over in India Basin, e-tailer Sparks.com has been working its way to the top of the handmade-paper greeting card racket for the last year and a half. Chief technical officer Jason Monberg could be the poster child for SF's Internet gold rush: he's hip, smart and successful, and with co-founder Felicia Lindau, he may well end up on the cover of Forbes. Sparks.com is poised for the big time, with a monthly customer growth rate of 20 percent and new alliances with LinkShare and iVillage. (TB) Juanita More Muse For eight years drag queen Juanita More has been inspiring more than trannies with fashion. In addition to raising the standards of drag couture, Ms. More and her gal Friday, Sookie, have pulled together benefits and events. Juanita will be hosting the pre-legendary New Year's party at the EndUp. Serving as both model and muse to local couturier Mr. David, Juanita et al. will showcase gowns and photographs at the Catherine Clark Gallery this June. (CF) Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalitions Professional Activists He's as good as dead. The year 2000 marks the end of a cause, a hobby and an industry. To what cause célèbre will they flock now? Metropolitan hears that Leonard Peltier could use some support. (MS) John Natale Filmmaker A screenwriter/director/producer and old-fashioned North Beach bon vivant, Natale is following in the tradition of Ferlinghetti and Coppola in terms of DIY. Frustrated with the politics of Hollywood, Natale has started his own production company, San Francisco Story Works, and created a website, www.radiomystery.com, with which to distribute his productions via streaming audio and video. (CD) Roger Neal CEO, productopia.com Productopia.com would be the e-geek's Consumer Reports, if not for the fact that the site is so much more hip than its papery predecessor. Offering simple, to-the-point buying advice on everything including luxury SUVs, power drills, long skirts and shimmer makeup, this relatively new online buying guide is growing at a phenomenal rate. Neal, formerly general manager at America Online, is at the helm of what may well become a household name, at least in houses with computers. (TB) The Newly Mustachioed Tribe Butch lesbianism has made the mustache more acceptable for women. Even the hipster elite have claimed the mustache as their own (the theory being that every great rock & roll star, at some point, had a mustache. Just look at the Sgt. Pepper cover, or Eric Clapton or James Taylor). And the mustache is quickly becoming the noncommittal mullet of ironic hair design. Have a laugh. Grow a 'stache. (TF) Omalara Singer I have seen the future of hip-hop and her name is Omalara. Too much hype for an unknown female performer in her early 20s? Nope. If you'd seen the multitalented singer/poet perform live, you'd be as blown away as I was. Featuring a singing voice as silky as Erykah Badu's, the feminine toughness of Queen Latifah, the politically charged rage of Zack de la Rocha, and a musical versatility reminiscent of Gil Scott-Heron, Omalara seems poised to take the R&B world by storm. In early 2000 she's cutting her first album. We can't wait. (CD) Otter Disc Jockey He's been called "the jukebox of the gods" for the plastique power of his vinyl and turntable synthesis. Whereas some turntablists instinctually feel the vibe of the crowd and choose their selections accordingly, Otter mingles. And while other DJs are sampling and scratching their ears out, Otter isn't afraid to put on "Stairway to Heaven," have a drink and sneak a kiss before returning to slyly mix in "Love Cats." His work with Blood & Butter productions has become legendary, and now, with his party "The Powder Room" reclaiming the Beauty Bar on Friday nights, Otter's particular fondness for the outré may have finally come of age. (MS) Orixa Musicians Latin rock is the next big thing, if we're to believe the onslaught of end-of-the-decade hype. Enter Orixa (pronounced Ori-sha), San Francisco's own Latin-style rock-funk-ska band. Rocking out with the likes of Santana, Heroes del Silencio and Cypress Hill, these energetic boys are aiming for the sun. It's hard-edged rock for the next generation of rock en español aficionados. (DC) Micha X. Peled Filmmaker The former director of San Francisco's Media Alliance covers a lot of ground, from film festivals in Havana to Latino theater in The Mission, probing Jewish settler violence in Hebron and digging into his family's roots in Germany. Currently the Israeli-born film maker is working on a PBS doumentatry about the impact of Wal-Mart on small town America. (DP) Dave Pell Internet Insider Dave Pell seems to know everyone in the Internet industry and somehow has a line on all the latest haps. The guy is so well-connected that he's started a newsletter, www.davenetics.com, delivering web news to more than 5,000 web professionals daily. Managing partner of Arba Seed Investment Group, Dave has advised and invested in more than 30 Bay Area start-ups. Talk about an industry insider. (TB) Gina Pell and Zem Spire CEO and VP, splendora.com CEO-publisher Gina Pell and VP-biz dev guru Zem Spire are a couple of sassy San Francisco women with a great idea: splendora.com, a soon-to-launch city guide focused solely on places to get pampered. Just as Zagat reviews restaurants, Splendora sifts through all of the crap in SF to report back on the chicest, hardest-to-find salons, spas, shops, restaurants and studios. Gina and Zem have spent the last year on a nonstop schedule of facials, body scrubs, cashmere tests, yoga classes and long lunches, all toward the end of creating the most selective women's pampering directory in town. (TB) Popeye's Maligned Restaurant Chain The biscuits are butterier than KFC's and an order of red beans and rice gives you all your complex proteins for pennies. It's soul food on the go. I recommend the shrimp etouffe. And with white trash/protein diet trends colliding, the next millennium is looking bright. (TF) Marcus Poston Spoken-Word Artist Spoken word may not have been invented in San Francisco, but we've adopted and reinvented it enough times to consider it our own. So it's exhilarating to see a local poet/spoken-word artist like Marcus Poston carry on the legacy with rhyme and reason. His excellent spoken-word album, Intimate Strangers, is an intelligent, soulful collaboration with the Marcus Shelby Trio. (CD) << Previous Next >> [ San Francisco | MetroActive Central | Archives ]