I'm so intrigued by the upcoming Harvey Milk biopic, Milk, shot in my neighborhood, directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Sean Penn and James Franco. The trailer was finally released today and it kinda gave me a thrill-- I wasn't sure what to expect but it's looking to me from this little bit like they captured it pretty well. Here it is:



I'm hearing that the premiere will be Oct. 28th at the Castro Theater! I just may have to swing by...

      

Not only was Sunday's incredibly fun, huge rave-scale 2008 San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration & Parade the best party of the year so far but it was also a landmark historic event: one that marked the California Supreme Court very recently making it legal (second to Massachusetts) for same-sex couples to marry. And this significant step forward (in a long uphill battle) for human rights clearly was prominently on the minds of the revelers who descended upon San Francisco this past weekend.

Sunday afternoon's giant celebration was essentially a really, really large wedding party since so many in attendance had just gotten hitched in the days leading up to the event. Included were the happy couple pictured left in front of City Hall where, they cheerfully informed me, they had gotten married two days before.

The first part of Sunday's mega-event was the long colorful parade that slowly snaked down Market and left onto Eighth Street, and along whose route Mayor Gavin Newsom got numerous ovations for his role in pushing the envelope in the same-sex marriage issue, starting four years ago shortly after he took office.

The parade was immediately followed by the "celebration" portion of the long fun afternoon. This giant party kicked into gear from the get-go and the energy didn't let up all day. The sprawling celebration extended for blocks in every direction and featured over twenty different stages in addition to countless spaces and booths that took over all the streets around the Civic Center area of downtown San Francisco.

In following with both the fact that Amoeba hires only the most insatiable and voracious music enthusiasts,  and the fact that we of course all learn from one another, periodically i will be posting interviews with staff members.  in this edition, i discuss with san fran's own zack - his musical past and present, among other things.

The Employee Interview:
Zack
4+ years employed at Amoeba
Floor dude

Q:  What was the first music you remember hearing as a kid, before you had a say?

Z:  "Back in the USSR," "Good Vibrations," and the "Monster Mash."  My dad would play these while he got me dressed on the couch in the living room before preschool.

Q:  How have these songs influenced your musical likes and dislikes?

Z:  With the Beatles, it gave me a great pop foundation for discerning melodies I like and dislike, but as I got older I really couldn't take the Beatles anymore and had a long stretch of being completely over them while I explored other musical avenues.  Since the birth of MY son I have embraced the Beatles once again, having had enough time off and being able to hear them again for the first time along with him.

Q:  What was your first concert?  Last?

Z:  First concert was the Kinks at the Palladium in LA, '87 and my last was the Melvins at Great American.