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“The opening of the San Francisco 49ers’ $1 billion stadium in Santa Clara is likely to be delayed a year, pushing the opening to at least 2015, given problems securing financing for the project, team President and CEO Jed York announced Wednesday.” Since the players’ union and the NFL are in a tiff, it’s impossible to secure the monies needed from the NFL and other investors to build the 68,500-seat stadium. [SF Gate]

From Curbed National:

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

Five syllables encapsulate the interiors of the newly dressed penthouse at The Fairmont Hotel San Francisco: un-be-liev-able. Apparently it’s a popular opinion: just this week, the team at Champalimaud Design learned they won the 2010 Americas Property Awards in the category of “Interior Design, USA” for their revitalization of the 6,000-square-foot suite, which spans the entire eighth floor of the hotel’s historic main building. Designed in the ’20s by art historian Arthur Upham Pope, the space still boasts details that point to Pope’s fascination with Persian art and architecture: a vaulted billiards room is entirely covered in floor-to-ceiling Persian tiles and a sweeping two-story circular library features a gold-leaf rotunda (plus a secret passageway behind a bookshelf). The three-bedroom suite has only been open for public use since 1981—it was formerly a private residence—so principal Alexandra Champalimaud worked around elements that have, over the years, become property of the hotel, such as David Hockney paintings and a collection of Chinese vases. Not too shabby, indeed: “We have inherited a rich history and the eclectic and sophisticated tastes of the suite’s original owners and those who lived here,” says Champalimaud, describing her approach to putting forth a “luxurious marriage of East meets West.” Below: a hand-painted Chinoiserie wallcovering clads the walls of the dining room, which seats 60. The luxurious, layered treatment is certainly regal enough for the suite’s roster of powerful past guests; it’s just a shame that Prince Charles and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev—not to mention Mick Jagger, Elton John, and Tony Bennett—bunked here before what seems to be its next heyday.

· Jaw-Dropping Suite Where JFK and Prince Charles Have Bunked [Curbed National]

· Champalimaud Design [official site]

[Game 4 via Curbed Flickr Pool/RChin]

· Where were you when the Giants won last night? [Mission Mission]
· What’s going on here, Financial District? [Bluoz]
· Earthquake drill today! [Daily News]
· Don’t feel like working? Watch some Giants baseball! [SF Appeal]
· Inside the Holy Virgin Cathedral on Geary [Richmond SF Blog]
· We don’t know why this happened but we like it [Uptown Almanac]

Giants’ Brian Wilson and his rad beard. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

• Remember to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
• Fear the beard? Nay, love the beard. [WSJ]
• First Lady Michelle Obama at S.F. fundraiser. [Chronicle]
• No Castro Halloween again this year. [SF Appeal]
• Fraud suspects in San Bruno explosion miss court. [Examiner]
• Juanita eats! [Grub]
• A very necessary voter guide. [NecCo]
• Sandra Lee’s horrific Halloween tablescapes. [Curbed]
• Ideal World Series bets. [SF Weekly]
• Condemning sit/lie. [Mission Local]

From the SFist tipline comes a seemingly improbable tip that the Water Emergency Transit Authority (neé Water Transit Authority) is considering using hovercraft in place of traditional ferries along routes in the Bay Area. Confirmation from WETA Manager of Public Affairs, Leamon Abrams via email reveals that the Authority is indeed “evaluating the feasibility of utilizing hovercraft” on the proposed Hercules-San Francisco ferry route as they work to add seven new routes and triple ferry patronage by 2025.

Hercules, it seems, has a particularly sandy shoreline that could pose challenges to dredging efforts, meaning it’s probably easier to just ignore all that and just drive ferries right up on the beach. While the idea of zipping around the Bay on a floating bag of air is actually kind of appealing in a The-Future-via-the-1960′s sort of way, we’re not really sure this bodes well for patio umbrellas around the Ferry Terminal. On the other hand, Abrams did imply that the agency wouldn’t be evaluating the possibility if not for new advances in hovercraft design, which hopefully means these things aren’t as noisy as the hovercraft we’ve seen in the movies.

We’re not short on choices for this weekend’s Halloween festivities. Let’s get to it!

PARTIES

Trannyshack Halloween: For everyone who misses the Castro Halloween street party, the 4th Annual Trannyshack Halloween, featuring best “ghoul-friends” Heklina and Peaches Christ, is the place to be on Sunday night at DNA Lounge.

Lucha Va Voom: Also on Sunday night is the touring Halloween blowout & Cramps tribute at the Fillmore, featuring Lucha Libre, burlesque, comedy, and a costume contest.

Zom Prom: Rumor has it that a zombie procession will be meeting at 16th and Mission on Friday night and then heading to El Rio for some “evil music” and “undead dancing”.

All Hallow’s Eve: DNA Lounge, Death Guild, Meat & Hubba Hubba Revue present a goth/industrial extravaganza with sideshows, cabaret, and a costume contest on Friday night.

HAUNTED HOUSES, GAMES, WALKING TOURS

Fear Oaks: The Young People’s Teen Musical Theater Company present 800 square feet of scary haunted fun, along with live performances of Thriller all weekend.

Journey to the End of the Night — Halloween 2010: On Saturday night, race through the haunted cityscape of San Francisco to a series of checkpoints, while avoiding being caught by chasers.

Mystery of the Wax Museum: All weekend, tour certain areas of the Playland-Not-At-The-Beach’s Museum of Fun by flashlight at and try to figure out why all the strange wax figures are standing around watching you!

Ghost Walk At The Palace: At the annual City Guides ghost tour through The Palace Hotel on Sunday, learn about which kings and presidents died there, romances that ended tragically, and enduring stories of spectral visions and mysterious occurrences.

Ghost Walk at City Hall: On Friday night, learn about assassinations and other ghostly lore, along with little-known facts such as the cemetery that once covered Civic Center.

MUSEUMS

A SuperNatural NightLife: California Academy of Sciences celebrates Halloween on Thursday night with a “parapsychology” demo by Professor Paranormal, ghoulish tunes by DJ Tomas Diablo and Space Cowboys, and sultry tunes sung by one of the ladies of Beach Blanket Babylon.

Hauntology: At Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive’s L@TE, experience the spectral sounds of Portland-based Indignant Senility, and Bay-area based artists Barn Owl, Jim Haynes, and Marielle Jakobsons, providing a haunting sonic backdrop for multiple film, slide, and video projections, many from the PFA Collection, plus a ghostly procession by the Theater for Charity, and other tricks and treats.

LIVE PERFORMANCES

Karaghiozis Saves the Economy: Shadowlight Productions presents a special Halloween Greek shadow puppet play at Hallidie Plaza on Sunday night.

Zombie Town: It’s the last weekend to catch Stage Werx Theatre’s “documentary play” about a community in crisis due to a pretty awesome zombie attack.

Teatro ZinZombie: Spend Halloween night in Teatro ZinZanni’s diabolically decorated lobby, while enjoying irresistibly bloody Halloween cocktails, a five-course gourmet meal, ghoulish face painting, and death defying acts.

MOVIES

Poltergeist: Castro Theatre hosts a Poltergeist extravaganza on Saturday night, featuring an onstage interview with JoBeth Williams, a Carol Ann look-alike contest and Poltergayest, a horrific fashion show performed by the Sick and Twisted Players, along with a screening of the film, of course.

Eli Roth’s Midnight Movie Marathon: Spend your weekend watching a whole line-up of classic and obscure horror flicks, hand-picked by grindhouse producer/director Eli Roth.

Shaun of the Dead at Beach Chalet: Enjoy happy hour drinks, appetizers, and popcorn, while watching the instant classic Shaun of the Dead on the big screen.

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde: Spend a spine-tingling Halloween at Davies Symphony Hall (if you dare!), as the Ruffatti Organ accompanies this newly restored version of the 1920 silent classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. There will also be a screening of the uproarious Buster Keaton short The Haunted House.

The Frightful Films of Fleisher: On Sunday Afternoon, the Exploratorium presents the spookiest animations of the Fleisher brothers (cartoon pioneers and creator of Betty Boop) from the 1930s.

Halloween Spooktacular: Start your weekend of with the Roxie’s Friday night double-feature, The Creature with the Atom Brain and The Man from Planet X.

GALAS/BOTTLE SERVICE

For those who enjoy high-end bottle service-type events, check out Heaven and Hell Halloween Party at Medjool on Friday night, Psycho Halloween Ball at The Old Mint on Saturday night, or the SF Halloween Ball at City Hall, also on Saturday.

     

As a singer-songwriter-orchestra leader, Sufjan Stevens’ biggest strength is his ability to overcome the inevitable sense of preciousness that he has been both acclaimed and criticized for. Appropriately enough then, Stevens started off last night’s set at the Paramount Theatre (a venue probably chosen for it’s quaint spelling of “theatre” as much as its bourgeois seating arrangement and art deco backdrop) with the intimidating 8-minute title track from his latest album The Age of Adz set to a backdrop of animations that fell somewhere between Metropolis and the trench run scene from Star Wars.

The song is somewhat unsure of it’s own assertiveness though, as it alternates between moments of imperial bombast, chamber pop and something like a church youth choir wearing leftover costumes from a high school musical about space travel. “Adz” would set the tone for the rest of the set which alternated between plucky, intimate numbers and a soaring orchestra of live and electronic instruments.

But beneath the layers of instrumentation and in spite of his talent as a lyricist, Stevens has an uneasiness that reveals itself as he steps outside of the music. In an attempt to give context to his latest album by providing a condensed version of the tragic history of the Prophet Royal Robertson, the story (which is worth a read if you’re in to schizophrenic prophets and outsider art) drifted beyond what could be reasonably qualified as stage banter and into the territory of “nervous rant.”

It’s a compelling sort of nervousness though, and it also explains the juxtaposition of his more insular songs with 10- and 25-minute epics like the encore sing-along “All Delighted People” and album-closer “Impossible Soul”. On the latter, Sufjan distorts his voice, auto-tuning it into oblivion and eventually reaching Peter Frampton-talking-guitar levels before bringing it all back to a breathy whisper.

Of course, it all seems like a defense mechanism – a way to make sense of the awkwardness that comes with public praise for such personal music. But by undermining those that might over-think his work (like this review for example), Stevens is free to experiment with a playful silliness. His choreography recalls so many awkward dance moves in high school gymnasiums and neon visors worn on his shoulders become the sort of space-age armor an imaginative 9-year-old might dream up. Ultimately, the quirkiness prevailed as the crowd at the Paramount stood next to their assigned seats for their own personal dance parties and spilled politely in to the carpeted aisles for one last shakeout before heading home for the night.

Sufjan Stevens plays again tonight at 8pm at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland

Disgraced ex-HP CEO Carly Fiorina was sent to the hospital this morning due to an infection stemming from reconstructive surgery she had after battling breast cancer. She is expected to make a full recovery. Fiorina is currently fighting for the Senate seat against Democratic incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer, who sent out this warmhearted message of support: “We wish Carly Fiorina a speedy recovery and hope she is able to return to her normal schedule soon.” [SFGate]