Critics have lauded her latest efforts saying, "Stromata follows adventurous suit...reveling in wild time signatures and stark, synthesized percussion, its only constant her unadorned, operatically trained vocals." (Paste Magazine) Collected Sounds wrote "...a great record for both long time Charlotte fans and the newly joined as well." Martin's music is a mix between Tori Amos and Sarah Brightman - really it's just emotionally-charged expressive storytelling at its best (besides the fact she has an incredible voice)!

Luckily for her fans, Martin is selling Reproductions, a new CD that will be only available on her Never Say Never, Fall 2007 Tour. That alone, is worth coming down to Cafe du Nord tonight.

First Wave Hello, Charlotte Martin and Ken Andrews
Cafe du Nord (2170 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94114)
Thursday, October 18th, 2007
Show: 9:00PM/Doors: 8:00PM
In Adv: $13.00/Door: $15.00
GET TICKETS!
Ages: 21+

Photo courtesy: Erin Russell Photography

Queer rights groups freaked out, threw a tizzy (understandably), and nixed their support for a workplace discrimination civil rights bill "after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., pulled transgender people from the legislation that would protect gays and lesbians from workplace discrimination." And since nothing says action like an angry missive or online petition, a letter signed by gay groups was sent to Congress yesterday demanding them to rebuff legislation excluding transgender folk, according to the NGLTF.

One argument is that there's a better chance of the bill getting passed if we locked up our trannies (like the controversial and sublime Miss Bambi Lake, pictured here) in the attic.

As the Chronicle also pointed out today, this raises the question of whether or not activism works better with such compromise while taking baby steps toward progress, or just going whole hog all-or-nothing. (Like the riping off a Band-Aid to ease the pain right-quick, we vote for the latter.)

Gavin Newsom says he's committed to finding another private company to set up the whole system, and blames the Board of Supervisors for the deal falling through because they wanted more information before approving the agreement; the Board says Gavin should be glad we aren't saddled with a deal on terrible terms for the city.

Seems to us that even if the Board had approved the agreement, Earthlink's in enough financial trouble that they'd've backed out of it anyways, really. But what's the big deal, anyways? Can't Gavin just get someone rich to pay for it, like he wants to do with everything in the city these days? (We can't wait for the Swells crowd to start sponsoring individual MUNI lines! Ride the Dede Wilsey 38 Geary Limited! Wait for hours for the Charlotte Maillard Shultz T-Third!)

We have team coverage for today's big event. We've ID'ed Lou Seal, Senator Carole Migden, Omar Vizquel, Rich Aurilia, Barry's family, Mayor Gavin Newsom, the Willies (Mayor Brown, Mays, and McCovey), Peter MacGowan (thanks, Pete16!), the Schultzes (Secretary of State George P. and Dame Charlotte M.), Mistress of Ceremonies Renel "In the Morning" Brooks-Moon, and a host of others helping Giants slugger Barry Bonds celebrate his 756th home run this afternoon. Who did we miss?

Update: Oh no, we missed Plug1 in the green shirt, towards the right. Sorry.

" . . . and with the 18th pick, the Golden State Warriors take . . . Marco Belinelli."

Uhhh, come again?

Damn, we hate being this good. Was there ever any doubt that Don Nelson would use the Warriors first round pick on a guard? With big men Jason Smith and Tiago Splitter still on the board, the Warriors went with Belinelli, a 6'6" shooting guard from team Climamio Bologna. Belinelli, who looks like he's about to hit puberty any day now, has good size for a shooting guard and a nice shooting touch. He has drawn some comparisons to Ray Allen, but Draft Express lists Mike Miller as a best-case comparison, so . . .

Fresh faces and fresh hope for the Warriors after a draft day that had more action than a Warriors-Suns game. Now, who are these guys again? Photo from Golden State Warriors official website.

This pick would make absolutely no sense, using the team's only first round pick to further strengthen their only undisputed strength, the backcourt, if not for the real move of the day. And by move, we're talking about a wicked, slashing, crossover into the lane for a double-pump two-handed tomahawk of a move.

The Warriors have traded Jason Richardson to the Charlotte Bobcats for the rights to Brandan Wright.

An undisputed crowd favorite and heart and soul of the team, JRich will be sorely missed by Warrior Nation. However, it was evident from the beginning that Richardson was not one of Nellie's favorites. Add in his decent trade value, the $11 mil he's owed next year, and the fact that he plays a position at which the Warriors are stacked, and the writing was on the wall.

Total number of people pictured in this week's Swells society column: 67.

Total number of people pictured whom we recognize: 4 (including Molly Sims and her BFF Jennifer Siebel.)

Minority count: 4 (5.8%).

Getty v. Traina: 1-0 (counting Gavin's sister as a Getty)

Number of countries visited by Denise Hale to celebrate her April birthday: 3 (India, Serbia, Italy).

The age of children being compared to "a natural phenomenon where a river comes in and turns back upon itself": 16 and 17.

Number of Gavin sightings: 0.

Number of Stanlee Gatti sightings: 0.

Number of Charlotte Maillard Shultz sightings: 0.

Number of people pictured whom we recognize: 2 -- Charlotte Maillard Shultz and a way-too-skinny-looking Vanessa Getty.

Minority count: 6 (10.9%).

Getty v. Traina: 1-7. Big ups to C.Big for the comparison of the Steel-Traina family to the von Trapps! So long, farewell, auf wiedersein, good night.

Number of hot dog hats pictured: 1, and it rocks.

Days until the Barneys SF opens: 107 (Sept. 18).

Days until the Nan Kempner fashion show exhibit opens at the DeYoung: 13 (June 16). Quote of the day, from Ms. Kempner: "I tell people all the time I want to be buried naked. I know there will be a store where I'm going."

Number of years Chronicle Books has been around: 40. They used to sit next door to Phil Bronstein, who had a sign on his door that said, "Phil Bronstein -- Investigative Reporter." Ha!

Number of "savvy and fashionable blond swans" at the Bill Blass fall collection showing hosted by the SF Ballet Auxiliary and Saks: 2 -- the aforementioned Charlotte Maillard Shultz and Vanessa Getty, who were reported to have sat together and said, "That would look great on you!" to each other.

SFist Rita is out of town for work, so we are donning our tiara and gown for this weeks Swells analysis. Tra-la-la!

Total number of people pictured in this week's Swells society column: 57.

Total number of people pictured whom we recognize/know: 23. This high number is because of the SF Library event with lots of writers, including Amy Tan, Vendela Vida, Dave Eggers, Stephen Elliot, Ben Fong-Torres, Michael Lewis, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Sam Barry, ZZ Packer and Noir Czar Eddie Muller. We recognize but do not know Peter Coyote.

Minority count: 5 (11.4%).

Number of vintage jeans worn by Ben Fong-Torres's wife, Diane to the library fete: 1. They are her husband's. Back in his Rolling Stones days in EssEff, he used to wear them and "party like a rock star."

Number of peace necklace medallions worn by City Librarian Luis Herrera: 1. Accessories worn by other attendees include: Nehru jackets, hippie head wraps, and beads.

Number of son-Mom Laureates: 1. There's Sean Wilsey and his Mom, Pat Montandon.

Number of big wigs worn at the Laureates dinner: 2. One by Bill Draper (pictured above), and one on Jewelle Gomez. The wigs appear to be black, and Draper's reminds us of Paul Stanley, of KISS rock fame. Sorry, but we don't have a count for the number of big wigs in attendance.

Getty v. Traina: 1-1. No pics, just mentions (wtf!?). The Gettys are mentioned by Brandt Hooker with: "On this block, it's pretty rare to look out a window and find yourself looking down on the Gettys." That's how they roll for the University High School's Decorator Showcase, in Pac Heights. For team Traina, Dede Wilsey gets some copy for her fundraising efforts with "Queen of Hearts" Angela Alioto.

Number of Queen Elizabeth II dinner potential dress changes at the White House for Charlotte Maillard Shultz: 1. "...I asked her (Mrs. Bush's) secretary if it would be all right if I sent ahead my second-choice gown (complete with another change of shoes and jewelry." Ms. Maillard Shultz informs C-Big. "...that way, if another lady arrived in the same dress, I could make a quick change and spare someone else the embarrassment of being in the same gown." Que horible, indeed!

If you were born after 1994 you have no idea what it's like. If you're a long-time fan, you might have a hazy, vague recollection of it. If you come from places like Los Angeles, Chicago, or Miami, you desperately miss it. We're talking a big game -- more specifically, a Warriors big game. An important game. A game that means something besides wrapping up a Lottery pick or nudging out Seattle or Memphis for the 11th overall spot in the Western Conference.

Tonight the Warriors play the Indiana Pacers in their biggest, most important game of this season or possibly the last 10 seasons. If the Dubs win, their slight hopes for the last playoff spot in the WC remain on life support; if they lose, consider the plug pulled on yet another failed season.

Tonight is also the first game in which the Warriors will face former teammates Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Ike Diogu, and Keith McLeod, players jettisoned from the roster with extreme prejudice last month as part of an eight-player trade. This adds another delicious layer of significance to tonight's game because there is no love lost between the players involved and their former teams.

The Warriors are still afloat, but the season is sinking fast. A loss tonight and they'll have to add a spot for Davy Jones to the team's locker room. Photo from Hydrolance.net.

Why is tonight's game so important to the Warriors? Because if they win tonight, they will improve to 2-3 on the current road trip. As we pointed out last week, it is imperative that the Warriors at least break even on this road trip if they have any hopes of keeping their playoff dreams alive. After extremely disappointing tank jobs against Cleveland (even without LeBron) and Atlanta to start the trip, the Warriors squeaked out a W against the woeful 76'ers, but face-planted to yet another come-from-ahead loss against the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday night.