"I'm gonna SLAM this town!"

There we were in a tiny old Italian cafe in North Beach, San Francisco. Pictures of musicians and poets of the past littered the walls. Ferlinghetti pouted at me through a tarnished antique frame. Behind our table sat four older bearded gentlemen who were aggressively and good-naturedly talking politics. Lawrence Welk's instrumental version of "Tie A Yellow Ribbon" was echoing hauntingly from the classic jukebox.

Suddenly the atmosphere was shattered by a booming scratchy powerful voice that exclaimed, "Somebody stole my guitar! Somebody stole my guitar and if I don't get it back I'm gonna bring an earthquake onto this town!"

There in the doorway of this tiny establishment stood a large disheveled street-worn man. He was shouting at the top of his lungs at everyone in the room. His scraggly gray hair and long beard framed his gleaming eyes as employees firmly escorted him back out onto the sidewalk. He kept yelling and threatening and as we walked down the street lamp lit streets away from the scene we could hear him echo, "I'm gonna SLAM this town!".

Welcome to San Francisco, friends.

Here we are at The Hemlock Tavern:



I found this picture on Flickr. I'll get some of my own up there soon and tell you more about our adventures in the Shaky City.