Gonzo moment/G. gets scooped

Pretty effing steamed right now. Weeks ago, I overheard on a BART train that the Mayor was challenging the census. I called the office with the info -- had it confirmed off the record that it was indeed true, but a 'non-story.' Told to bide my time, I'd be informed as it developed. Did what I was told.

Today, Mayor G. lets drop to the A.P. and the Chronicle that there's 100,000 extra people in town that the census somehow missed. There's 867,000 of us, not 767,000, the rest in hidden in undisclosed locations or something in Western Addition and Bayview.

(To the non-West Coast friends and family, this means thus: that everyone's hiding out in the black part of town.)

The story I had weeks ago. The story I was told to sit on. I played ball, and struck out.

Lesson learned? Ahh... forthcoming. Wanna break stuff right now more than anything else. Am looking forward to giving press officer the business tomorrow. She'll listen, cos clearly Gav's Office cares about the local media, local issues and local politics. Clearly...

"It is a city of haves and have-nots," Newsom said.

No shit.

*******************

Before that broke in my face...

Was going to tell you how, on the way off the BART and onto the street, walking towards the car for Stage 2 of my one-hour in-city commute, I turned the corner and saw flashing lights, cops crowded, cops concerned, cops talking to guy laying on the street, wrapped up in the frame of a bike in front of a white truck. Cops talking, cops human, cops trying to find out who was hit, why was hit, what was hit. No ID, no talking. In pain. BART-load of people shuffling past in the dark, cops yelling, 'ANYONE SEE WHAT HAPPENED?' Couple stares, couple slowing down before putting feet back in gear and down the road. 'ANYONE SEE WHAT HAPPENED?' Reporter didn't take photos, statements, didn't even slow down.

Had to take a leak.

Had to drain it before I hopped back in the car, before I drove past and looked again, saw dude extracted from bike and inserted into ambulance, jeans cut away to reveal swollen leg, me driving off to Safeway where bread, tomatoes and strawberries flown in from Mexcio cost more than they did a few months ago.

Would you like to work for brokeasses?

You've done it. You've made it. You've worked your way up the ladder. Not the corporate ladder, or Jacob's ladder, or the chute and ladder, but up to the upper reaches of the journalism community. All the long nights, lost weekends and paltry meals while your friends from college were out partying, making gobs of cash and not having to use cash advances to pay the rent have paid off.

You are a staff writer for a broke alt-weekly.

It's hard to get a job in journalism these days. If you're the SF Weekly, for some reason it seems hard to keep a job in journalism.

COS THEY ADVERTISE ALL THE DAMN TIME FOR A STAFF WRITER

The older posts have expired, but I swear, and some others in the perennial-job-seeker-community will attest, that the SF Weekly has been continuously advertisign for a staff writer since the freaking summer.

What makes this all the more intriguing is the fact that they gots no money. Whether or not the SF Weekly's parent company, Phoenix-based Village Voice Media (now that's an outsourcing) has to pay the full $15 million doesn't really matter. If they appeal, they'll shovel money down the trash-hole of legal fees. If not, they have to cough up millions, millions that do not exist in a newspaper's budget.

They're only looking for an experienced hack, someone with long-form journalism experience (read: no bloggers or daily hacks allowed) and a sense of humor: cos how else can you justify working for someone you know can't pay you?

The return

Dope Bomb the Bass video, no? Wait, what? It's been three months since an update? I don't work as a sportswriter anymore? I'm back in the city?? I've been a news reporter for two months???

WHAT HAPPENED

Well, reader, you know, since, well, you know me if you're reading this. (If not, just who you be?) I'm back in San Francisco, where I shoot photos and write words for a small daily. Now that I'm somewhat established, I'm resurrecting the blog.

So now, of course, I must tweak the blog's focus. No longer will we focus on Tracy sports, cept maybe when we visit Lopez Field. Sports we may still mention, specially if we are attending baseball games in Oakland, playing frisbee on Ocean Beach, or wiffle ball in the office.

So. Yes. Soon. But not tonight. I've got a cold room full of dirty laundry, and a three-hour board meeting to attend at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

Jeebus.