West Gate of Babylon: Archive

Wallenberg Recap →

Flying though the air, Chris Cole is halfway through a succesful backside 360 ollie down the Wallenberg four which he landed on his second attempt, helping him take home the $6,000 prize for 1st Place. The ladies portion of the contest set the theme for the rest of the day: gnarly! Marissa Del Santos (far right) made eleven attempts at being the first woman to ollie Wallenberg and came...

Jun 2nd

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48 Hours Until Wallenberg! →

Only 48 hours until the contest at Wallenberg High School. With $10,000 on the line you’ll be sure to see slams way gnarlier than the those found in Chris Cole’s tre-flip sequence.

May 28th

Happy Birthday Golden Gate →

The West Gate turns 72 today. Here’s a photo taken during the consturction before the bridge opened on May 27th, 1937.

May 28th

Usugrow SF Show Closes This Weekend →

I might be way ahead of the curve or I might have been sleeping on this and everyone’s already heard, but artist Usugrow’s installation at 24FiftySF is closing this weekend. I love his art. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the Edmund Joseph Sullivan piece that got turned into The Greatful Dead skeleton and roses graphics, but retains a distinct japanese tatoo styleee… ...

May 28th

5th Annual Adidas Berlin Clash →

Check out this Adidas Video of the 5th Annual Berlin Clash. SF local turned pro, Denis Busenitz, killed it along with Bastien Salabanzi who took first overall.

May 27th

Island Vibes at Carnival in The Mission →

This weekend is Carnival in The Mission and it’s going to be a reggae/dancehall infused affair! Come see all of your favorite local reggae DJ’s tear shit up Saturday and Sunday on Harrison Street between 17th and 18th near Mariposa.

May 23rd

Bay to Breakers 2009! →

I’ve been busy and haven’t posted in a while, and just in case you’re wondering this is what I’ve been doing instead. I just can’t reiterate it enough: I love San Francisco!

May 22nd

Matix Signing at DLX SF →

Calling all Mike Mo fanboys! Head on over to the DLX SF shop on Friday to get your Girl board autographed… Then ask him to land a hard flip first try down six!

May 6th

Blood Wizard Party in Golden Gate Park →

Local skateboard start up Blood Wizard Skateboards is hosting the 1st Annual Lord of the Ringers horse shoe tournament in two weeks at the horse shoe pits in Golden Gate Park. Their skateboards are sick, and so is all of the Blood Wizard art which is done by local artist Skinner Davis. He recently worked on a mural project sponsored by YouTube that was featured in a recent issue of Juxtapoz. ...

Apr 29th

Chezidek at 111 Minna →

Veteran roots reggae artist Chezidek passed through San Francisco on Friday night, blessing up the mic at 111 Minna as part of their Suite Jesus party. I’ve seen Chezidek a bunch of times but I can’t believe I’ve never been to 111 before… It’s dope! Two big rooms, nice sound system and $2 PBR’s all night. I’m definitely passing through next...

Apr 26th

Boneless to Pop Top →

Creature has a new board series out called, “Brue Killers” and have a cool little video to promote it. Bonus points if you can indentify the park where it’s filmed.

Apr 14th

Watch

Bay to Breakers Mash Up from last night’s Board of Supervisors meeting courtesy of Melissa Griffin via SFist! UPDATE: Here’s some pertinant thoughts from SFAppeal: B2B Update: Valiant populist rhetoric fails to alter path of evil corporate no-fun machine, while nice churchgoing folk flip proverbial bird at everyone. City supervisors will next week vote on a resolution urging...

Apr 9th

Apr 8th

Western Edition drops Marvin Gaye gear →

WE RAW Marvin Gaye Tribute from Western Edition on Vimeo. Western Edition dropped their Marvin Gaye tribute gear and board last week. I’m not a huge fan on the dead celebrity tie-in (unless it’s somebody totally gnarly like G.G. ) but whatever. The video, which features a bunch of SF skate spots, is pretty cool and worth checking out.

Apr 7th

Cooyah Tonight w/ DJ Gaucamole →

Tonight I will be DJ’ing the early set tonight at Cooyah, which takes place every Wednesday at Bruno’s on 20th and Mission. I’ll be warming things up around 8 PM and as always it’s absolutely free. Resident selectas Green B and Daneekah will be blazing brand new dancehall and I’m sure Guacamole will be dropping some hot WBLK dub plates. To get in the mood...

Apr 1st

$10,000 Best Trick Contest: Back 2 the Berg →

Mark you calendars! Thrasher and Zero are throwing down $10,000 cash for the best trick at the infamous Wallen 4. The Gonz did it first in Video Days but that was before my time. Chris Cole 360 flipped it recently in New Blood. And here’s some video from Thrasher’s last big trick contest in SF, Bust or Bail, which took place last August. Sheckler may have won $25,000...

Mar 27th

DEA Raid in San Francisco Today →

From SFist - “In yet another attempt to harsh SF’s buzz, word is the Drug Enforcement Agency is here (as of 4 p.m.) doing a bust. According to an anonymous email, ‘I just went by [unintelligible] dispensary on Howard and 12th [street] and they are being raided right now by the DEA. My phones down. Get the word out por favor.’ There is a cannabis club on Howard, so...

Mar 26th

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Went to the Bro-down Showdown in Sac Town today. It was a lot of fun and I picked up a whole bunch of cheap shit. More photos soon…

Mar 22nd

Skylark Sessions: Mr. Lucky's Earthstrong! →

Monday was Mr. Lucky’s earthstrong at Skylark. I had to roll out to show support because he might be the nicest guy in The Bay and he’s got all the wicked tunes. The boys from the mighty Now Time Sound where in the house, and everyone was ready for a birthday shot. Not sure if this was immediately before or after the round of shots. Seelo brought a couple of brand new...

Mar 19th

Federation Invades One Love →

Fresh off the plane, New York’s number one sound - Federation Sound - invaded Green B’s monthly One Love party at Poleng Lounge on Friday night, and it was hot. Max Glazer and Kenny Meez brought all the big tunes, including a special dub plate to celebrate Melissa’s Earthstrong. Green B hanging out with Federation Sound. All in a days work… Hot gyals Rose Ras,...

Mar 15th

Count Chocula Tags The Mission →

Last night I was coming home from a wild birthday celebration at Bruno’s when I noticed some interesting graffiti. Apparently Count Chocula has been leaving his mark all over the Mission. Further evidence of The Count was found on a nearby awning so I started to imagine him with a backpack, krink pens, and a thick transylvanian accent. Basically like this graphic from the City of...

Mar 13th

Watch

An equation for you to consider: Nothing To Do + New Skate Board + A Stop At The Love Shack on 14th + Watching Sean Gutierrez Kill It + $1 PBR Drafts At Pop’s + Dinner At Mission Street Food With Allan, Katie and Heide = THE PERFECT SATURDAY… (My video was shot with shitty digi but looks like P-Stone did it proper CLICK HERE)

Mar 6th

Jamaican Analytics →

So I hooked up Google Analytics to The West Gate so see if anyone is actually reading this thing and to my delight I’ve received my first Jamaican hit (no not this kind). I definitely feel validated in some small way…

Mar 6th

New Skate Park Meeting Thursday →

Tomorrow night is your chance to weigh in on the new Duboce Caltrains Skatepark that is planned for the corner of Mission and Duboce. It’s probably not going to be SF’s answer to Burnside but a new, legal park is always welcome, especially considering The City’s bullshit laws prohibiting skateboarding on any city street or sidewalk (has anyone ever gotten a ticket outside of...

Mar 4th

Mar 1st

Live and Direct: Fabby Davis Jr. →

On Saturday we bombed up to Fairfax to catch the Mistah Fab show. It was sick, especially since I heard, while having a beer at Zeitgeist, that the club had burned to the ground. Thankfully the Fairfax Fire Department was able to save the venue. GrownFolks opened up and while I was unimpressed with his flow, his fashion sense was impeccable. I’ve seen Mistah Fab a couple of times...

Feb 24th

Delly Ranx at Cooyah! →

Jamaican Video Shoot in the Mish? Hell Yeah! Up and coming Jamaican Dancehall artist Delly Ranx will be performing live and direct at Bruno’s in the Mission on Wednesday February 18th for FREE! Delly Ranx is going to be filming a music video with the boys from Itation Sound for his new track on the World Go Round Riddim entitled, “Wish Good.” Show up in your fly-est...

Feb 18th

Automorphosis on Valencia Street →

Not quite as cool as a Transformer, the Camera Van featured in Harrod Blank’s documentary Automorphosis was parked on Valencia street in front of Delirium. The film is screening this week at the SF Independent Film Festival on February 17th and 21st at 7:15 PM.

Feb 15th

Two Helpings of MSF →

MSF has been my latest addiction. Each week I seem to drag another friend to the Lung Shan at 18th and Mission and introduce them to Mission-style culinary bliss. So when they annouced they’d be open on Saturdays I was excited but knew that it would inevitably mean two trips a week. Thursday night I sampled the Bolinas Goat stroganoff with braised fennel, juniper and crispy chevre...

Feb 15th

A Little Extra Loving →

It was a very long week at work so I was excited about getting a little “Extra Loving” last night. Daneekah and DMadness were there chilling. DMadness was giving out copies of his new lovers rock mix which I’m listening to right now as I’m writing this and it’s dope. All extra loveydovey, yah know..? Green B and Pam the Funkstress were in the back room. ...

Feb 15th

Sober Bay To Breakers?!? →

From SF Gate: “For 97 years the race has traversed San Francisco — most recently trailed by thousands of intoxicated (and often naked) participants pushing festive keg-toting floats. It’s one of those only-in-San Francisco events that attracts up to 100,000 participants. But probably not any longer. This year, there will be a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol and all...

Feb 12th

Feb 8th

California Bazaar

Reading The Chronicle is one of my guilty pleasures. I love local news (most of the time) and this week has been particularly interesting. Here is a mini Harper’s Bazaar-esque statistical break down of a few of the top stories… Amount of dollars spent on Yes on Prop 8 Campaign: $40 Million Amount of dollars spent on No on Prop 8 Campaign: $45 Million Amount Students enrolled in...

Feb 7th

Watch

Sean Gutierrez is my favorite local skater. He’s on Consolidated and I always see him killing tricks and tall cans when I’m Potrero Del Sol. This video was shot a couple weeks ago when we were enjoying 70-degree temperatures in The City. (Video courtesy of Thrasher and P-Stone)

Feb 6th

“Vice is a wonderful thing. The people who go in for it seem to have good taste...”

– Ernest Hemingway from, “A Farewell To Arms.”

Feb 5th

She had a face like, "are you kidding me?" →

From yesterday’s Chronicle, “The tiger killed Souza immediately, then chased Paul Dhaliwal about 300 yards to the zoo’s Terrace Cafe and was in the process of attacking him when the officers arrived. Plainclothes partners Oshita and Biggs were in one car, and uniformed officers O’Leary and Kroos were in another. The first calls came in just after 5 p.m. The initial...

Feb 5th

The Orphanage Closes it's Doors. →

From Prolost, “Today I had the heart-wrenching task of joining my co-founders Scott Stewart and Jonathan Rothbart in announcing that The Orphanage will be suspending operations indefinitely. We started the company ten years ago, tripled in size each year for our first three years, and worked on some of the biggest and best effects movies made. We produced shorts and even features, we...

Feb 5th

Jake Phelps Fired From Thrasher →

I spend a lot of free time at Potrero Del Sol and I always see Jake Phelps there kicking it with all the little “skate groms” (I think he lives on Potrero Hill). Looks like Jake has been fired from Thrasher Magazine where he was Editor in Chief due to some Frank Hirata shit talking yesterday.

Feb 4th

It's William S. Burroughs' 95th Birthday Party,... →

Finally, an excuse to head down to Broadway and not spend all of your money all in one place. On Thursday Mr. Borroughs is posthumously celebrating his birthday at the Beat Museum. I’m hoping to pick up “Search and Destroy #10” but we’ll see what other literary treasures await… Here are the details: “Join us on Feb 5th as the Beat Museum hosts Charles...

Feb 4th

Jan 27th

First SF Field Trip of 2009 →

Saturday I decided to plan and execute my first big San Francisco field trip of 2009 and, with some help from SF MUNI, I was able to map out a plan that would take me from Ocean Beach to Excelsior and back… My first stop was at the Library. It really is the only place that you walk into, no questions asked, and a complete stranger will loan you something. In my case it was A...

Jan 25th

Cooyah 2009 →

Cooyah’s back in the Oh-Nine Stylee with DJ Coopde’ville, DJ Daneekah, Selecta Green B and Polo Mo’Qz (left to right). It may be rainy and cold in SF but it’s always HOT inside Cooyah every Wednesday night at Bruno’s (20th and Mission). Reunited with old friends.

Jan 24th

A night with The Jacka →

On Saturday, I ventured down to the SJC to catch The Jacka at Evergreen Community College’s, “Stop the Violence” MLK Day event. We arrived early and we’re a little confused as the opening “act” was a fashion / talent show featuring a bunch of South Bay high school girls. Was The Jack really going to show up? Was he really going to rap about, “moving...

Jan 22nd

Lit City on Google Maps →

MyOpenBar.com strikes gold again by linking to a new site from the folks at InstantCity.Org called Lit City, which encourages you to recount the gritty details of that time you had too many $1.00 wells at Frisco Disco at (the now closed) Transfer on Church Street (R.I.P.).

Jan 20th

All the beer you can drink for $8 this weekend!!! →

I love local blogs. My favorite is Mission Mission, which has recently been featuring content from Sexpigeon, another local favorite. But that’s not important. The big takeaway: all the beer you can drink this weekend at TRUCK for only $8.00 bucks. This deal only slightly edges out Pop’s normal Saturday $1.00 PBR draft happy hour special (assuming you can drink more than 8 beers...

Jan 15th

Skylark Sessions: Now Time Sound →

Monday marked the “2 Year Anniversary” of one of my favorite weekly reggae parties at Skylark (16th & Valencia). Resident sound InI Vibe teamed up with the boys from the mighty NOW TIME SOUND for a proper, irie celebration. It was Rose Ras’ birthday and she was feeling it too… Helping her out are new friends Stephanie and Mandy. Joe-L from Now Time Sound pon...

Jan 15th

NYE with T.O.K. →

It’s been a month since the last post, and a lot has happened in that time. Most notably we’ve got a brand New Year, and I was lucky enough to ring it the boys from T.O.K… … And some close friends: Green B, Daneekah and Vinny Ras (Rose Ras pon di camera!). Kymani Marley was there. And Pressure. Turbulence too. It was dope!

Jan 13th

One Love at Poleng with Coop and Green B! →

The first Friday of each month is ONE LOVE at the Poleng Lounge hosted by the lovely and talented Green B. This month’s special guests included the Faded Twins, Chicken Scratch, and Coop D’Ville. Here’s Coop killing it! And here’s the crowd feeling it…

Dec 18th

Santacon / Santarchy Spreads Drunken Holiday Cheer... →

I was blissfully unaware of the Santacon phenomenon until this past weekend, but apparently it’s been building up drunken steam for sometime now. December 13th marked Santacon’s visit to San Francisco. Fun (and beer) was had by all… The Holiday Cheer was tangible but I think it must have been a nightmare for parents who had to explain to their young children: 1.) Why...

Dec 18th