Albion Brewery & Castle
In 1870, an enterprising English immigrant to San Francisco built a castle home on top of a secret cavern spring and used its cold, pure water to brew beer.
Albion Porter & Ale Brewery lasted until 1919 when Prohibition forced it to close. It was resurrected in 1928 as Albion Water Company, selling bottled water, which it did until 1947.
It was almost destroyed to make room for a freeway in 1961, but survived. It stands today on its original spot in Hunter's Point. The caverns still exist as well, and the spring generates 10,000 gallons of fresh water every day, which empties into the Bay. (The castle once served as the office for Laughing Squid's web hosting tech support crew.)
It went up for sale in September 2009 as a private residence for $2.9 million. Does anyone know its current status?
Here are some brand new photos of the caverns, posted to the Oakland Museum of California's Facebook page.
The Three Hos

From the misspellings to the vintage sexism, this flier has it all.
Inside, on the night before Christmas Eve Eve, the 500 Club is feeling toasty and festive.

If the Trailer’s a-Rocking
I don't expect much of a Monday night.
But a friend was having a get together at Gestalt before returning to do the Lord's work in Africa, so I dragged my butt out. It was a crazy night. The high point was when we followed some bumping music to the above Airstream camper parked in front of DoubleDutch.
When security from DD tried to tell the silver-trailer-dweller to turn his music down, the response was not positive. "You don't come into my house and tell me how to live!" was part of the tirade.
The bouncer backed down.
The New Beauty Bar

Some say Beauty Bar is super-douchey and should be shunned. I live equidistant between it and Bender's, and I have to say that the nights I've chosen Beauty have never been disappointing - rowdy, cheesy, caveman fun. I look forward to seeing how the remodeling turns out.
The Spitfire Rose

As the appeal of overlit, overcool "dives" wanes for yours truly, unassuming neighborhood haunts like Mission Terrace's Spitfire Rose (allegedly named after the British WWII fighter plane) continue to fascinate.
The Yelp page has that enticing combo of mixed experiences and low review count that raises more questions than it answers. That's all it took for the SU Corps of Urban Drunkards (SUCUD) to go on its inaugural raid. More after the jump.
The Police Sketch Fits the Crime
It's hard to sympathize with iPhone thefts. Accounts like this don't help:
My first thought as you saddled up to the bar next us while we ate our dinner was, “Hmm odd couple”. A white woman with dark blond hair, relatively tall, in her mid to late 30s, and a short black man, in his mid to late 50s. The woman was wearing a black jacket, and the man was wearing what can only be described as an over-sized khaki “zoot suit”. But whatever, it’s San Francisco right?
But when it becomes clear that the victim is so utterly grief-stricken that they rally all their design-school skills to absolutely fucking guarantee that this never happens to another human being, with wonders like the drawing above...well, I come right back around to feeling their pain. (Almost - the thieves bought GROCERIES for christ sake.)
Oh, and by the way:
If anyone stumbles this pair casing other restaurants around town, please call the San Francisco police (553-1141) and leave a message for officer C. Leung #12281, with regard to case #091094361. Thanks.
But what's the number for the Fashion Police?
Weapons of Jazz Destruction?
I can only hope and pray that I'm reading this right. The fascist tactics of neo-Footloose killjoy cop James Dudley are finally being challenged the way they should be:
Performing on the steps of City Hall will be the Jazz Mafia, an acoustical jazz group. Performing inside City Hall will be the night life industry and their customers who too are citizens of this great urban metropolis.
The War on the War on Fun is about to enter its next phase. If any of you are planning to be at the hearing, please be sure send pics.






