UPDATE: At 10am yesterday, January 26th, 2012, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee declared it was Original Joe’s Day. Read about it here.

ORIGINAL POST: Having worked for about a year and a half with the Duggan family, the owners and founders of the San Francisco landmark restaurant Original Joe’s, we can safely say that these are some down to earth, smart, fun, wonderful people. And with the re-opening of Joe’s happening in North Beach today, we couldn’t be happier to say, “Congratulations!”

The soft opening happened this past Saturday night, and as Kevin, Andy and I stumbled towards my place around 2am, we saw the newly uncovered windows of Original Joe’s lit up. The interior looks amazing. It is gorgeous and classy and as we fogged up the glass getting a better view, I knocked and got the attention of a maintenance person who was cleaning up from the night’s festivities. Melissa opened the door and after I explained who we were, she let us in to have quick look around.

The photo below is of a framed picture hanging on the wall of the new Original Joe’s. It shows the old bar at 144 Taylor, I think from sometime in the 60′s or 70′s. In front of it is a photo on my phone that I’d taken of PianoFight company members during our first meeting at 144 Taylor, shortly after we’d signed the lease.

I have no idea what’s going to happen over the next year – shit, I can barely plan for next weekend. But I do know that if PianoFight can channel the do-it-yourself tenacity of Original Joe’s, and the class of the Duggan family, and operate a business that is half as successful, I know we’re going to be just fine.

To new beginnings.

- Rob

San Francisco-based choreographer Brian Gibbs/Btroubles of TAGsf sat down with PianoFight’s Evan Winchester to talk about his two new dance films, and discuss the creative process in the Bay Area. We will be covering those two projects on the blog here. See examples of Brian’s work here and here. Click here for Part 1 of the interview.

Evan Winchester: What’s your fascination with film/multi-media?

Brian Gibbs: My fascination with film and multi-media is the endless possibilities. Any idea that I have no matter how visceral weird or out there can be achieved in those mediums. We have yet to fully integrate multi-media into any of our shows so it’s pointless to go into any detail about that. Plus I don’t want motherfuckers stealing my shit.

Film holds a special place in my heart because of nostalgia. Just like listening to a piece of music and how it can transport you back to another place and time, film has that same sensation, especially in the recording/preservation of the performing arts. A cool thing about looking back is how far you’ve come. 5 years ago I wanted to be the best choreographer that ever lived which seems retarded to me now. 5 years later my goals are much different and so is my work. I can’t even imagine choreographing a strict dance piece anymore, nor am I interested. Whenever I go back and look at anything I’ve created, my mind always goes back to the process of how the piece even got created which is really what I care about. The process and making sure that my artists enjoy it as well. Life’s all about the journey.

EW: What’s it like to work with Btroubles?

BG: Troubs is a cool dude. He’s kind of a bitch and a little bit of a control freak but he’s a loveable fellow. We met back in college and he is everything that I am not so it’s cool to work with someone like that. I’m super lazy but get these crazy ideas all the time and Btroubles is responsible for making sure that they happen. I’d probably die without him.

EW: What’s in the box in the video?

BG: Next question.

I’ve never written a blog before. Nor do I understand the relevance of most blogs. I know a “blog” is a tool to express one’s own opinions, thoughts, and inspirations over an ever-expanding social forum; and everyone has the right to use it, but why would anyone care about what I have to say? If I question the relevance of most other bloggers’ judgments and outlooks, why should I expect them to give me any of their time?

I think I’ve found the answer.

Food.

What better subject to write about than the one thing that truly brings us happiness. Some bloggers can express such negative opinions, expressing certain themes that, frankly, I just don’t give a shit about. I mean, why am I wasting my time on reading what some mid-thirties dungeon troll has to say about Star Trek TOS, and whether its original series ran for seventy-nine episodes or eighty? Any serious Trek fan knows that episode two, “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” was a two-parter, but still one episode– seventy-nine! But this is beside the point. There is one thing that this basement-dweller and I do have in common: food, and lots of it. I think it’s obvious. Read more »

Unlike many viewers, Tom has no idea what the heck SOPA & PIPA are, but he’s pretty sure that the internet is free and pirates are simplymisunderstood. And thusfore ’twas decided to decide against the graphic reign of tele advertisemercials & lobbying powers-that-may-or-may-not-be. Ladies and Gentlefolk, may Tom of Toms proudly present fire for versus of fire – abstracting protest in the form of abstraction itself. With these kinds of vagaries, whocandoubt censors have daysnumbered? No doubt these patriots have the best interests of interest in mind.

Did you know Wikipedia could go on strike?

PianoFighter Nina Harada chronicles her journey of pursuing a career as an actor in Los Angeles. Follow her journey on her blog The Scene Partner.

Like a lot of people during the month of January, I’ve been doing some reflecting, re-evaluating and looking forward. I started a running list of what I want my 2012 to be about, some directly related to acting, some not, but all under the same goal of honoring Me. Seems a little selfish, but sometimes you have to be. What I mean is, doing things that I want to do not have to do, doing things that make me happy and feed my soul, fulfilling my passions and dreams, enjoying this journey every step of the way– basically, having an overall positive outlook.

A lot of it has to do with language I use: getting rid of  should’s and shouldnt’s and have to’s and replacing them with like to’s, want to’s and choose to’s. More active, less passive. I also think that a more active, there-are-things-in-my-control, perspective will result in a more proactive year. The less you make projects and activities chores, and the more you make them fun then the more likely you will do them! For instance, I kinda hate submitting. I’d think of it as something I have to do if I want to be an actor. But, throw on a little music, imagine the different roles I now have the chance at playing, and it’s kind of fun!

So, going along with the doing things that make me happy and feed my soul, one of the items on my list is to do more theater I love. In other words, not worrying about pay vs no pay, industry audience vs. family and friends, potential connections vs. none at all, or even theater vs. film. Theater was what got me here to begin with. Anyway, I got what I wanted! I am starting off the year with two wonderful shows. The first, in February at Casa 0101, is called Occupy the Heart, a short play festival exploring the Occupy Wall Street movement. The second, in March at the Lyric Hyperion, is a new rendition of the Vagina Monologues, including an original ensemble-created piece. Not to mention both shows are with very cool people I like. I think I’m off to a good start!

-Nina

I decided to write about the present and future responsibility of the human race to preserve Earth. I believe that it is our responsibility to react to the excessive trash problem that has reared its Gorgon-like head into our society. Sad as it may seem, I do not believe that we have what it takes to salvage our tattered and torn land. That is why we will have to set a worldwide control fire that will dispose of all the trash. I’m sure all the smoke and pollutants in it will ruin our ozone layer, leaving us susceptible to the harmful UV rays of the sun, but by the time our “super fire” is done burning I will have put together a team of the finest scientists, physicists, mathematicians, and mechanical engineers in their fields to begin construction of the largest super spaceship known to man. It will be called “THOR 2,” symbolically named after the Norse God of thunder and lightning. You may be asking yourself, “Why is there a 2 in the name?” Good question. It’s to make it sound more powerful and because we had tried but failed before (it’s just to excite those nerds who work at Time magazine). We will then start to load people into “T2″ by process of elimination. If you were ever obnoxiously rude and or an asshole to me then you will have to stay on Earth and deal with the underworld Trolls that have been living in underground hives. They’re not the kind to be taken lightly. Read more »

PianoFighter Nina Harada chronicles her journey of pursuing a career as an actor in Los Angeles. Follow her journey on her blog The Scene Partner.

No, not the kind that makes you famous over night; the kind that gives you a breather, time to reflect, time to relax. In a similar post last year, I wrote that actors need vacations, too. And it’s true! So much of this career is go-go-go with no real defining markers, like vacation time or company meetings or whatever else marks time. Half the time I don’t even know what day it is.

Anyway, the past two weeks were somewhat of a whirlwind of a break from all that is acting. A little Mexico, Palm Springs and San Francisco to end 2011 and ring in 2012. I found myself taking a lot in, doing little thinking about acting (which felt so nice) and a lot of thinking about other things that are growing in importance for me. It’s important to recognize that I have chosen this career path and everything in between. (I chose to get headshots from a specific photographer, I chose to join a certain theater company, I chose to accept certain projects, etc.) For the past two years, I have been going along like this, going through the motions in my pursuit of this career. And I realized, recently, that not all of it necessarily makes me happy. I do it because I’ve been doing it, letting it take control over me instead of the other way around. I made those decisions and I can just as easily make new ones. It’s kind of like when I was at NYU and miserable, fearing I was going to be stuck there for four years in my misery when I had an “aha” moment, that looking back seems so simple and obvious but wasn’t at all when I was in the thick of my unhappiness. I realized, hey, I can leave! It didn’t mean I was quitting acting, it didn’t mean I was a failure. Afterall, NYU was my dream, I strived for and achieved. But just because I decided to go there didn’t mean I had to stay there. There was nothing wrong with rejecting the traditional four-year college experience if it wasn’t working for me. It’s my life, I can do it however I want.

So I’m kind of realizing that with my life right now. They aren’t fully formed decisions yet, because I’m still processing it all. But this recent break did give me the ability to see a lot of things about my life that I don’t get to see on a day-to-day basis in the throws of acting career stuff. It’s funny, because I always say there is no “right” way to do this. No instruction guide, no ladder to climb. And yet, there are lots of things I’ve been doing because I feel I should, I have to. I need to take my own advice! I can go about this any way I want. Besides, acting is not my one and only passion, though it is the most prominent now. Over the break those other passions and desires started to speak up. It’s what made me realize that I need to change this up this year. Nor sure how or when or where, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out.

-Nina