Yeah I know, I’m still really slow at this. Anyway, it was Saturday night and the mission was to have fun. The “Action Team” was comprised of Naomi, Alyssa, Alexis and Alex, and of course Kristen and myself.

The plan: action in the Tenderloin district. It’s an interesting neighborhood filled with homeless, drug addicts, pushers, prostitutes, people down on their luck, immigrants, under-40 trendy club-goers and wealthy upwardly mobile and yuppies heading off to events in or around the neighborhood.

As for us, it was dinner in a tiny hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese joint called Tu Lan. It’s cramped, cheap, greasy and wonderful. It’s also one of the first Vietnamese restaurant in The City.

Next we were off to Bindlestiff theater to see an interesting shadowpuppet play (in film format) presented by Anino Shadowplay Collective. The group is based in the Philipines and is currently using a Filipino classic “Florante at Laura”. The group itself is comprised of activist artists, and this particular work focuses on the 1000 year-old conflict between Christians and Muslims. In addition it comments on the joint US and Philipines “training actions” in rural areas of The Philipines in the name of fighting terrorism. Apparently, political killings and other human rights abuses are being perpetrated daily. The film was interesting. However the presentation could’ve used some work. The work was rushed into film format and was lacking in subtitles. For the majority Filipino audience this wasn’t an issue. For some of us it left us in the dark for a bit. As this was a fundraiser event I think it would’ve been in their best interest to add subtitles.

Afterwards we were off to another art event. A photography show at Club 6, complete with 3 bands and several DJs in diferent areas of the club. This was a great venue and we spent a few hours hanging out and drinking cocktails. We wrapped up the night at Mel’s Diner for sandwiches and milkshakes.