SFist Interview: Action Jackson
[Ed. Note: Contributor Emily Cox is on the SFist interview beat, and my first assignment was to have her ask the tough questions to our team so that everyone can get to know the contributors who make this site tick. In a fit of narcissism, I had her interview me first.]
When our intrepid editor isnt pulling together all the wonderful contributors and pieces you see here on SFist, hes working on a website for a national retailer based in SF. Clearly the world wide web, San Francisco, and Jackson West are linked in ways too inexplicable to be unraveled in a mere interview, but we did manage to discover how Jackson became the editor of SFist. Jackson became alarmed when he saw that LAist had launched before any SF site. Being the man of action that he is, Jackson signed up to be the editor of SFist, rallied the troops, and is proud to present the site you see today.
Read on for more about Jackson West and the San Francisco he loves.
Name:
Jackson West
Age and Occupation:
27, Internerd
Hometown:
Seattle, Washington
How long have you lived in the Bay Area?
Moved out here from NYC in 2000, spent three years in Oakland's Temescal neighborhood, moved out to The City in April of 2003 to live in my basement apartment in the Mission. When the rents went down, all my East Bay friends moved out here, so I didn't want to be left behind. It's also really hard living without a car in Oakland.
Favorite website:
Why, SFist, of course!
Favorite local business:
I really just like all the shops along 24th, east of Mission. The St. Francis and Pops bar, La Pena Cultural Center/Studio 24, Casa Lucas market, Usulutan Pupuseria, Tortas Picayudos, Raul's Winnemucca Barber Shop, Cruzin' Coyotes, La Reyna Panaderia, Treat Street, Precita Eyes, Angela's Gift Shop, Farolito - cheap places with local owners that I can walk to.
What You're currently Reading:
Well, a collection of Henry James short stories and Simone de Beauvoir's "The Prime of Life" are in my bag, but that makes me sound really pretentious. Unfortunately, it's true - I am really pretentious. Mostly I read newspapers, blogs and the occasional New Yorker or Harpers.
SF has the BEST:
Food, hands down. New Orleans is a close second, but nobody does food better than we do.
You've never lived in SF until:
You've seen four caucasians wearing saris making fun of four other caucasians playing hackey-sack. Happened to me in Golden Gate Park last weekend. I was almost swept into a wormhole due to the sheer weight of the irony focused on that small area of the universe starting to rip apart the fabric of space-time.
Favorite Bay area politician of past or present:
Not an elected official, but my current favorite is Jim Jones. He helped turn out voters for Jerry Brown, Willie Brown, Harvey Milk and George Moscone in the seventies as head of the People's Church. He preached racial unity and economic support for the poor. He was also a pansexual, drug-addled, suicidal nutjob. My kind of people.
Best solicitation from a pan handler:
Not a solicitation per-se, but someone recently asked me for a cigarette and then turned me down when I pulled out my American Spirits. Who said beggars can't be choosers!
You can tell someone is local here IF:
They're nowhere near Valencia and 16th on a Friday or Saturday night.
SF would be soooo much better if only:
They kept the bars open until four and they let you smoke in them. Sure, they'll let you poison your liver, get into fights and have risky sexual encounters, but secondhand smoke is bad for you? Whatever.
Best Burrito in the City:
They're all good. I don't think I've ever had a bad SF burrito. I don't want to get flame mail buy picking any one over the other. I eat at Taqueria San Francisco at 24th and York because it's the shortest stumble from my house.
Best movie/tv scene filmed in or about SF:
Easily the chase scene from Bullitt, with Steve McQueen doing his own driving in a Shelby Mustang. And the Lalo Schifrin theme song has an awesome bossa-nova swing. A must-rent. I'm proud to say that I own the soundtrack on vinyl. Watch for the Robert Duvall cameo as a cab driver early in the film.
I want all the SFists out there to know:
The Bay Area is the best f**king place in the world. Other places may have their charms, but on an objective level, everyone who doesn't live here is wrong, dead wrong. I can prove it scientifically. I'd be happy to display my numerous charts and graphs if it would convince you. Or you can just go sit on Black Sands beach naked, sipping Roederer champagne, nibbling on Acme bread and Humboldt Fog goat cheese and looking out over the Golden Gate. If you're not convinced then you are monumentally stupid and deserve a McMansion in Plano.
- Emily Cox
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