Arts & Entertainment A Dutch observer takes a close look at San Francisco By Leah Garchik | July 4, 2016 | Updated: July 4, 2016 5:40pm 0 Photo: Michael Macor, SFC Pelosi family, daughters, Christine, Alexandra, Michiel Vos, (Alexandra's husband) and another daughter Jacqueline, in 2007 Richard T. At the 31st­floor offiWceasl koefr 'sthe consulate general of the Netherlands on Wednesday, June 29, the Wye Oak shows growth with debut Ali 'signs' books in S.F., 1991 Northern California chapter of the 'TNweetehne' rland­America Foundation hosted a screening of Dutch pushes Americpahnot ojogruarpnhayl'si setn Mveloicphe iel Vos’ half­hour documentary, “San Francisco.” Vos and his wife, filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, live in New York but travel to San Francisco often to be with the Pelosi family. The film was made a couple of years ago to be shown on Dutch TV as part of a “My America” series. It was a foggy evening and we were high up, engulfed by the mist outside, in a crowd dominated by young people: Many (tall) young Dutch­born guests, and a healthy contingent of Pelosis, from Rep. Nancy Pelosi herself to Vos and Pelosi’s two young sons, who were featured in the movie. The documentary, which focuses on the “two San Franciscos” theory, moves from images of the fast­moving, gleaming and growing tech world to images of poverty­stricken men and women hunched over their trays of food at St. Anthony Dining Room. In fact, the film makes its point by ricocheting from the life these two boys glimpse while visiting their family on the Gold Coast of San Francisco — images of one merrily riding his tricycle in front of mansions while a gardener works trimming the shrubbery — to life in the Tenderloin, where the family goes to help dole out meals as a gesture of caring. At St. Anthony’s, they run into a former co­worker of investment banker Paul Pelosi (Alexandra’s brother, who was at the screening, too). His name is Allen and he had lost that job, and then lost his home. After living on the streets for a while, he now has a room in a Sixth Street SRO. The filmmakers follow him up there. “Why did you come to see the movie?” Vos asked after the screening. A reasonable question: The film was about 2 years old; we live and work surrounded by the things his film was showing; why see it through the lens of a filmmaker rather than with one’s own eyes? I said I was interested in European response to the situation. But the indelible image I took away is that of Allen in thaRt ircohoarmd ,T a. nd the dark hallway outside. He’s got 30 more years to live, said Walker's this well­spoken man, and he can’tW sytea nOda kt hsheo twhso gurogwhtth owfi tlhiving it like that. debut Ali 'signs' books in S.F., 1991 'Tween' pushes photography's envelope •Tony Graham of Patterson’s Pub in Mendocino, which serves elk burgers, says a customer asked him recently whether the burger was “testosterone­free.” •Frustrated by “senior moments,” Kim Waldron keeps “track of each such glitch. Every 25 such moments, I send a small check to the United Negro College Fund, since a mind is a terrible thing to waste.” •The next EU exit campaigns, thanks to Susan Silver and cohorts: Italeave and Portugone. The UK’s calling the vote “Regrexit,” says Vivien Cuneo. At the end of a recent performance of the Bay Area Children’s Theatre, it was announced that the company’s summer gig at Children’s Fairyland in Oakland would be “Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site,” a theatrical presentation based on Sherri Duskey Rinker’s truck book/bedtime story. Sitting in the audience listening to that announcement was troupe supporter Becky Bullard with her father­in­law, Jed Bullard. He’s the head of Bullard, a family­owned Kentucky company that makes protective work gear. Afterward, the Bullards approached staffers: Was the company in need of hard hats for the Fairyland production? It turned out that Bullard, a company founded in 1898 in San Francisco to supply gear for copper and gold miners in the West, is credited with inventing the hard hat. After World War I, when young E.W. Bullard returned from Europe, he designed a protective Hard Boiled hat that was intended for use by miners. It’s thought that this was the first hard hat, and it was adapted later for construction workers on the Golden Gate Bridge. The company later moved its facilities from Sausalito to Cynthiana, Ky. The theater company could indeed use hard hats; in fact, costumers had fretted that they were too expensive for the budget. Bullard sent a slew of hats for the performers and when the show opened, the weekend of June 25, the headgear was suitable, safe and in a rainbow of colors. Open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777­8426. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @leahgarchik Richard T. Walker's Public Eavesdropping Wye Oak shows growth with debut Ali 'signs' books in S.F., 1991 'Tween' pushes photography's envelope “I’m just like Ted Kaczynski ... except without a manifesto.” Woman to friend, overheard at Scrap in San Francisco by Mook Ryan Leah Garchik Features Columnist © 2016 Hearst Corporation Richard T. Walker's Wye Oak shows growth with debut Ali 'signs' books in S.F., 1991 'Tween' pushes photography's envelope.