Penguin chows down on his sculptor
In response to Sam Whiting’s census of works by Beniamino Bufano around San Francisco that was printed in The Chronicle’s Sunday, Aug. 13, Datebook section, Chris Martin wrote about his late-1960s encounter with the sculptor. Martin was a teenager working at the San Francisco Zoo, “training penguins to surf, play water polo and skateboard” (I don’t think there are such academic opportunities available to penguins today), when “I received a call from Armen Bali ,a longtime family friend. Mrs. Bali stated that Mr. Bufano wanted to see a penguin up close.”
Martin invited Bufano to the zoo, but Bali called back, asking him to bring one to Bufano’s South of Market studio. He told her that wasn’t a good idea because penguins aren’t toilet trained and don’t travel well, but “Mrs. Bali was unyielding. So I selected Douglas, the gaggle’s most docile penguin, carefully placing him in a cardboard box and seating him next to me in my old Volvo.”
When they arrived at the studio, at least three dozen Bufano patrons and supporters had been invited to witness the meeting of the sculpture and his model. “Douglas was uneasy because of the crowd. I explained to Mr. Bufano that though this particular penguin was not overly aggressive, they pack a mean bite and have been known to sever a finger or two. Promptly, Mr. Bufano waved his missing finger at me and the penguin.” Although Martin had asked Bufano not to stay close to the penguin, the artist “leaped forward and gave the penguin a bear hug.
“Befuddled, Douglas bit deeply into Mr. Bufano’s forehead,” which became covered with “a torrent of blood.” Undeterred, Bufano continued to attempt to hold the penguin, while the crowd in the studio pressed close to try to deal with the open wound. “During the uproar, Douglas and I found a side exit and beat it back to the zoo.”
The Jewish Film Festival provides intellectual stimulation and community camaraderie. But it’s so popular that there’s also a certain frenzy; the rush for seats has the ferocity of a tsunami. When a loud voice was audible in the theater before one screening this year, Beverly Robbins overheard one of the ushers assessing the situation. “I thought someone was hysterical. But that’s the Jewish Film Festival.”
At a recent festival sold-out showing of “Bombshell” at the Smith Rafael Film Center, San Rafael police responded to a call about a complaint that a patron had pushed an employee, a matter they learned had been settled by the theater staff by the time they got there. But while there, they also encountered a bigger kerfuffle. Statements were taken from participants and also other moviegoers who “helped us parse” the incident, said Lt. Alan Piombo.
This account is gender-neutral, because I fear for my life; the last thing I want to do is pick a side. It’s a familiar film festival scenario: One person takes a seat, leaves an item of clothing there to hold it, goes somewhere (possibly to the restroom), and returns to find the seat occupied. Among the allegations mentioned in this report: arm scratched, hearing aid knocked from ear, eyeglasses stolen, buttocks in face, buttocks pinched.
Citations were sent for review to the D.A.’s office. “Not to diminish it,” said Piombo of the setto, but the battle over the seat is simply “another episode of people behaving badly.”
PUBLIC EAVESDROPPING “Why do I have to know where all the domestic products are? Make room in your brain and memorize it!” Woman on cell phone, overheard at 26th and Valencia by Don Stevens
Some kind soul has written a coda for the sign in the rest room of a Bernal Heights coffeehouse. “Do not throw paper towels in the toilet” has been augmented, reports Bree LeMaire, with “Gently drop them in.” Meanwhile, Philip Morton was aboard a Norwegian airliner approaching a landing when the captain addressed the passengers: “In a few moments, the toilets will be closed. The cabin crew will be coming around to collect waste.”
I’ve received some mail about attributing the “Candy is dandy” quote to Dorothy Parker. Apparently it was cited by her, and often is misattributed to her, but the line was written by Ogden Nash. In humble apology, here’s a relevant piece of Nash verse in a poem called “A Word to Husbands” (readers, we do have a marriage, don’t we?): “To keep your marriage brimming/ with love in the loving cup,/ Whenever you’re wrong, admit it;/ Whenever you’re right, shut up.”