Please visit my other hobbyist web effort - www.RinconHillSF.org where you can find links to meetings regarding developments in the Rincon Hill and Transbay area.  Please also consider joining and/or contributing to the Rincon Hill Neighbors AIDS Walk San Francisco 2007 team - link http://tinyurl.com/2kgov7.

Little Yellow Perfect is the first artist played on this episode. You have the opportunity to see them at their CD release show this Thursday, April 12, 2007 at Cafe Du Nord.  Go see one of the City's best bands! Visit the Little Yellow Perfect web site at www.LittleYellowPerfect.com. The song is called For Your Safety and the Safety of Others, and I found it on the Podsafe Music Network at http://music.podshow.com.

I haven't seen many other non-instrumental San Francisco acts on the Podsafe Music Network lately. Please encourage your band and songwriter friends in the City and Bay Area to use the Podsafe Music Network and shoot an email over to SOMAcast@gmail.com to let me know that songs by local artists are out there waiting for me to share with SOMAcast listeners.

Keaton Simons, a Los Angeles-based blues rock artist that has a really cool sound, provides the other two songs in this episode. The first song is titled Without Your Skin. The second is called Currently. You can learn more about Keaton Simons at his web site www.KeatonSimons.com. He will be in town on April 29th at The Independent, but he will be playing in Josh Kelley's band rather than playing his own tunes according to his web site.

Hope y'all had a good Easter holiday if you celebrate that. I had a good time over at Lombard and Leavenworth this afternoon watching the Bring Your Own Bigwheel extravaganza.  See last year here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWnff376PEI  and I imagine today's events will be available on YouTube soon by some digital video hobbyists.

Ciao! - jamie

Lots of activities happening in San Francisco all the time. I recently discovered a web site called Upcoming.org that I highly recommend for posting your events and finding some cool things to do.

This past weekend, we had Barack Obama in Oakland rallying about 7,000 or so potential supporters. There was the 155th Annual St. Patrick's Day parade.  There was also an anti-Iraq war march.  Lotsa stuff going on...

I've been pretty darn busy myself. One of the fun things I've been trying to pull together is a virtual neighborhood association for my new home area in San Francisco. I've set up a blog at www.RinconHillSF.org for residents and workers who call the Rincon Hill and Transbay area their home for at least a portion of time each week and who would like to work together to enhance the quality of life in this rising area.  I hope you'll check it out if you live or work in the area.

Lotsa great songs have been uploaded to the Podsafe Music Network since I last looked at the end of January. The first couple of songs are from a group called The Frail. These guys met on Craigslist.org - another web site all about bringing folks together (and out of their homes). The first song is called Addicted. The second song played is called Count On This.

The third song is by an artist named Jay Denton. His song is called Sometimes.

This episode is wrapped up with a song by General Fuzz called Cliff Notes. Speaking of notes, please note that the intro. song to this episode is also written/performed by General Fuzz.

If you're part of a band or a solo artist with some upcoming show dates in San Francisco, please do let me know via e-mail at SOMAcast@gmail.com I'd also like to play some of your songs - upload them to the Podsafe Music Network and let me know how to find them.

The opening theme song is taken from General Fuzz's song Throwdown.

This episode features a song by Love Is Chemicals called Claw Your Sweater.  By the way, Love Is Chemicals is playing at 12 Galaxies on February 1st if you would like to check them out live.

PC Munoz provides the other two songs on this episode. The first is called California (featuring Jackson Browne w/p-tac). The second is a country sounding ditty called She Gave Me a Bit of Heaven But I Hope She Goes to Hell.

All the music on this episode of SOMAcast was found on the Podshow Podsafe Music Network.

Some of the other issues discussed:

• Murders in San Francisco going unsolved - about 25% solved now compared to around 50% under Willie Brown's administration. Also of note, burglaries and robberies.
• Handicap placards outnumber City parking meters by a ratio of 4-to-1. No wonder we (citizens who make up San Francisco's electorate) aren't making much money on parking meters.
• $1 billion boon doggle waiting to happen in the form of a proposed Central Subway MUNI line to run from Caltrain at 4th and Townsend north on 4th Street to Chinatown.  The underground section would begin around Brannan, I believe, as currently proposed.  This is just stupid - the MUNI bus system works fine through this route (granted, 3rd street is a block over in SOMA, but a $1 billion Big Dig is just dumb at this stage).
• I'm concerned about pedestrians getting hit by vehicles way to often in the City. More specifically, the intersections on streets that feed the Bay Bridge traffic are very dangerous considering the new residential units being built in the area (Rincon One and Infinity).  I posted my concern on Yelp.com, and I got some good suggestions. The best came from Alissa W who, along with some others, suggested that pedestrians and vehicle traffic take turns entering the intersections, similar to what happens at Stockton and O'Farrell or Montgomery and Sansome.  These are the streets that would be good to change to this vehicle/pedestrian traffic light system:

• Main and Folsom

• Main and Harrison

• Fremont and Folsom

• 1st and Folsom

• 1st and Harrison 

• 2nd and Folsom

• 2nd and Harrison

• 2nd and Bryant

• Please write to Gavin Newsom at gavin.newsom@sfgov.org along with your Supervisor to ask that this be set up.  This is our City, and we need to be safer when walking or driving around town.
• Chris.Daily@sfgov.org
• Michela.Alioto-Pier@sfgov.org
• Tom.Ammiano@sfgov.org
• Bevan.Dufty@sfgov.org
• Sean.Elsbernd@sfgov.org
• Ed.Jew@sfgov.org
• Sophie.Maxwell@sfgov.org
• Jake.McGoldrick@sfgov.org
• Ross.Mirkarimi@sfgov.org 
• Aaron.Peskin@sfgov.org
• Gerardo.Sandoval@sfgov.org

Be involved in your community - it is your investment/money that runs this place, so you need to take responsibility and manage these folks elected/employed to spend it wisely and to keep San Francisco the beautiful, wonderful attraction it is to folks around the world.

Have a good week - Go Chicago Bears! - jamie

Holy cow - the Presidential race is getting fierce with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton throwing in their hats.  I am anxious to see the candidates develop, especially Senator Obama.  In the meanwhile, I do encourage you to get involved in the political process - especially if you're a younger person!

Let's listen to some tunes....

The first song is Fireworks by Cameron Ember. Song #2 (after I lament our health care, prison, and democratic participation stats) is Subimage playing Hardwire.  By the way, see Subimage at Bottom of the Hill on February 13, 2007!  Finally, I wrap up this episode with a cool, new reggae sounding tune from Dream Art Science called Wizard.

All of the music on this episode was discovered at the Podshow Podsafe Music Network.  I encourage musicians to sign up and upload some tunes at the Podsafe Music Network, and then let me know about your tunes by emailing SOMAcast@gmail.com.

Ciao for now! - jamie

I start this episode off by getting some thoughts on George W. Bush's desire to escalate the war in Iraq off of my chest. The bottom line for me is that we've spent nearly 4 years in Iraq, over 3,000 American soldiers' and many more Iraqis' lives, and billions of dollars of our tax money that cannot resolve a conflict between two religious groups by brute force.  Look at Israel and Palestine - do they happily get along under a single government?  The quick answer is no, one of the two groups clearly dominates the other - and there is little freedom or democracy in that.  How can George W. Bush and the Republicans think that Americans have any business fighting one or both sides of a conflict that has existed (or at least required domination of one of the two by the governing group) for hundreds of years?  If the Worst President Ever cannot figure out the simple equation that this is not worth it to America, then we need to impeach him and get someone who does listen to others.

On to the music...

This show features 3 tunes from Bay Area band Little Yellow Perfect. They have a new album coming out in April, but you can download a pre-release on iTunes now.  I'll keep my eyes peeled for live performances by the band around San Francisco...

The songs that are played:

1. Automata
2. C'mon
3. For Your Safety and the Safety of Others

All three songs were found on the Podshow Podsafe Music Network.

The show wraps up with a movie review contributed by a listener to the show. Enjoy the review of The Cinemaphiliac of the movie Children of Men.

Go check out Yelp!  Tell them Jamie W. from SOMAcast sent you!

Stay warm!  - jamie