Matt Charnock, Author at Underscore

The (Belated) Weekend Catch-Up: Beloved SF Drag Cabaret Venue Reopens After Months-Long Rehaul

23Jul

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

The (Belated) Weekend Catch-Up: Beloved SF Drag Cabaret Venue Reopens After Months-Long Rehaul

Plus: Another PG&E outage left thousands in San Francisco without power Saturday for over six hours. With queer watering holes and venues hanging on by a bedazzled thong, any gay bar’s opening (or in this case: reopening) is worth a headline. In San Francisco, few performance spaces, queer-centric or otherwise, hold as much importance and cultural cache as the drag cabaret bar, Oasis. Nestled inside SoMa and coiled by a sidewalk-to-ceiling mural, the beloved queer hub announced its planned shuttering in July of last year; a blog post by the business noted “rising cost of operations, paired with declining attendance and sales” ultimately served as the final nail in the coffin. But in an almost conspiracy-inspiring series of events — as if its preemptive closing served ...

The SF Dish This Week: Popular Food Magazine Crowns SF Eatery as Having America’s Best ‘New Pizza’

12Jul

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Food + Drink, News to Know

The SF Dish This Week: Popular Food Magazine Crowns SF Eatery as Having America’s Best ‘New Pizza’

Plus: $8 croissants have entered the chat as the next Millennial meme-worthy foodie expense ... even giving avocado toast a run for its money. San Francisco, though a gastronomic mecca, often escapes “best of” lists for pizza consumption. (We’ve got authentically infused burritos and farm-to-table plates on lock, thank G*d.) But that presumed prejudice is slowly shifting away, thanks to a new generation of pizza makers who aren’t afraid of stepping outside presumed norms. Jules is becoming a class favorite, putting their own spin on New York-style thin-crust pies pulled from their restaurant at 237 Fillmore Street. The likes of Eater SF and the Chronicle deem it a regional staple; its char-speckled crusts — known as “leporading” (perhaps my favorite niche-pizza-making-fact) — famou...

The Workweek Catch-Up: San Francisco Queer Man Reported Missing This Week Found Safe

11Jul

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Hyperlocal News + Stories, News to Know

The Workweek Catch-Up: San Francisco Queer Man Reported Missing This Week Found Safe

Plus: A quick assemblage of (fake) homeless encampments sparked more than a few "311" calls in San Francisco's Financial District earlier this week. Friends and family of 32-year-old Gabriel Carreon noticed his absence and lack of communication this past week had grown uncomfortably long; Carreon was last seen on July 7th around noon. Up until Saturday morning, he was reported missing in San Francisco. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Reggie Aqui (@reggieaqui) Given the wave of recent anti-LGBTQIA+ sentiment and growing number of hate crimes directed toward queer people — trans women remain the most vulnerable demographic to homicide, with the demographic being four times more like...

SF’s Fleet of Self-Driving Cars Prove Their Biggest Opps Are Fireworks

9Jul

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Hyperlocal News + Stories, News to Know

SF’s Fleet of Self-Driving Cars Prove Their Biggest Opps Are Fireworks

Mayor Lurie has condemned San Francisco's transit nightmare over this past 4th of July weekend, promising that October's Fleet Week won't suffer the same headaches. Fourth of July in San Francisco is, ostensibly, a laughable affair. (That … and there’s an incredibly small list of celebratory items to wax patriotic.) Fireworks disappear into dense blankets of fog; cold, windy weather makes outdoor evening festivities less than enjoyable; and the most visible fireworks, barenone, are those set off illegally in neighborhoods until the wee hours of the morning. A more recent happening — the entire city of San Francisco having access to driverless Waymo rides since June of 2024 — is the presence of bricked self-driving cars causing pandemonium all over SF. The problem, which has been well d...

Fireworks Cause Rare Wildfire in San Francisco on Telegraph Hill Along Hard-to-Reach, Narrow Road

6Jul

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Hyperlocal News + Stories, Nature + Climate Crisis, News to Know

Fireworks Cause Rare Wildfire in San Francisco on Telegraph Hill Along Hard-to-Reach, Narrow Road

A Sunday evening fire smoked in one of San Francisco's most wildfire-prone neighborhoods after a rogue firework detonated near Calhoun Terrace, igniting the precarious brush fire. Despite its urban density, San Francisco’s wildfire risk remains unusually high, with likelihoods of forest fires expected to increase around 50% over the next 30 years due to a combination of urbanization and climate crisis outcomes. That said, true wildfires remain exceedingly rare within the city limits; the vast majority of fires the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) responds to annually are structural fires. Sunday night, SFFD snuffed out a wildfire on Calhoun Terrace in the Telegraph Hill area — a rare blaze inside one of SF’s more metropolitan neighborhoods. The San Francisco Fire Department is ...

SF Corpse Flower Reaches ‘Peak Bloom,’ Drawing Thousands Before Wilting Away

29Jun

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Hyperlocal News + Stories, Nature + Climate Crisis

SF Corpse Flower Reaches ‘Peak Bloom,’ Drawing Thousands Before Wilting Away

Monday, June 29th, is likely your last chance to see the Conservatory of Flowers' sole resident corpse flower bloom ... for years. People have (again) lined up in droves at the Conservatory of Flowers to smell one of the world's largest, smelly, polarizing flowers. Scarlett, the resident corpse flower at the aforementioned greenhouse, began her unfurling early last week, perfuming the Victorian glass house with notes of rotting flesh. But the bloom (as expected) peaked for just a few days — two, exactly — before withering into compostable material. View this post on Instagram A post shared by San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers (@conservatoryofflowers) “Thank you all for visiting Scarlet dur...

One of SF’s Largest, Rarest (and Smelliest) Flowers to Bloom Any Day Now

22Jun

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Editors' Picks, Hyperlocal News + Stories, Nature + Climate Crisis

One of SF’s Largest, Rarest (and Smelliest) Flowers to Bloom Any Day Now

The last time Scarlet bloomed at the Conservatory of Flowers was nearly three years ago, drawing long lines to the greenhouse ... that smelled of rotting, sun-warmed flesh. San Francisco’s no stranger to purposefully massive, offensively malodorous flowering bodies. In fact, the seven-by-seven contains one of the largest collections of these cadaver-inspired blossoms anywhere in the country … and world. Outside of New York City and Los Angeles, which have 21 and 46 corpse flowers currently in greenhouses, respectively, San Francisco’s captive cluster is among the largest anywhere in the country. (For context: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates less than 160 mature corpse flowers remain in the wild; a cocktail of rapid deforestation and climate crisis outco...

The Weekend Catch-Up: SF Hosts Largest (Costumed) Footrace for 113th Time (Really)

19May

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

News to Know

The Weekend Catch-Up: SF Hosts Largest (Costumed) Footrace for 113th Time (Really)

Plus: An unplanned PG&E power outage left thousands of account holders without power. Bay to Breakers, often cited in cheeky Reddit threads and Instagram comment sections as SF’s version of “straight pride,” began in 1912 — six years after the city was leveled and nearly lost to widespread fires. The race, which remains one of only a handful of certified 12Ks in North America, was incepted as a moral boost post the said 1906 city-topping earthquake; over a century later, the race has remained a constant spectacle, evolving into a bipedal parade of costumed regalia … that later descends into backyard and stoop-held parties where blacking out before 2 p.m. is a justifiable norm. For 2026, the vibes were largely the same as in years prior: big, brash, and braggadocio-ish; eye-catc...

California Condor Population Soars to Over 600 Individuals, First Wild Egg Laid in NorCal Over 100 Years Doing Well

1Apr

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Hyperlocal News + Stories

California Condor Population Soars to Over 600 Individuals, First Wild Egg Laid in NorCal Over 100 Years Doing Well

Back from the literal brink of extinction, California Condors continue to exist as a triumph of human conservation efforts — soaring even amid hostile urbanization. The conservation success story of the California condor is one, quite literally, for the history books. Brought back from the brink of extinction, a population that once numbered less than 22 individuals has, through means of careful habitat restoration and captive rearing initiatives, grown into a population now estimated to be over 600 birds strong — an over 20% increase from previous estimates. A recent report published by the United States FIsh and Wildlife Service (USFWS) confirmed 607 California condors now fly through the skies, which seems like an impossible figure; 40 years ago, only 22 of these birds — the largest...

It Really Did ‘Snow’ in San Francisco Last Week

23Feb

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Hyperlocal News + Stories, Nature + Climate Crisis

It Really Did ‘Snow’ in San Francisco Last Week

A smattering of wet weather mixed with unusually cold temperatures brought an anomaly to San Francisco: hail (that was cosplaying as “snow"). For many San Franciscans, it was the first time they’d seen any frozen precipitation grace their stoops and outside staircases. February 17th’s chilly weather saw evening citywide lows averaging about 43 degrees Fahrenheit — a far cry from normally freezing temperatures. However, in SF neighborhoods further from downtown and situated in higher elevations, the weather proved fruitful for producing hail. Unlike snow, hail forms further up in the atmosphere, with precipitation carried up from low-lying rainstorms into high-pressure storm clouds where it's met with sub-zero temperatures, crystallizing into dense, usually pea-sized ice formations befo...