Joe hello, im joe rosato, jr. Thanks for joining me for fog city stories. Well, San Franciscos iconic cable cars are celebrating their 150th anniversary this year, and today we ride along with a woman whos helping change the face of the grip. Willa good morning. Come on in. Joe the morning ritual in San Franciscos cable car barn. Willa hold the switch. Joe these historic wheels begin their day, and so does historymaking willa johnson. Willa im ready when yall are. Hold on, guys. Hold on. Right turn, right turn. Joe its been over a decade since johnson made a left turn leaving a career in the medical field to join muni, eventually making her way to the cable cars. In the 150year history of the cable cars, johnson is only the second woman and the second woman of color to work the grip. Willa its a hard job. Its even a hard job for a man. Joe johnsons journey to the stick also wasnt easy. She left another division in the San FranciscoMunicipal Transportation Agency to work the cable cars. Willa i was washed out the first time and then i came right back the next year and i made it. Joe when she grabs ahold of something, she doesnt let go. Willa ive always been a person determined to do whatever i set out to do. I grew up in the fillmore. There used to be tall projects there, and i lived there at 1132 scott street apartment number 2. Moved to the bayview trying to do Something Better for our family. Joe if johnsod lovedant othird. Ing in the famrestaurant she t be telling a diffory, but she didnt. Willa i actually wanted to be a firefighter, but i applied many times and they never did call me. Sookay. All right. Joe along her journey, johnson raised four kids. Her daughter went on to college, planting a similar dream in her mothers mind. Willa since ive been here in cable car i graduated from junior college. It was like 25 years after i got out of high school. People are excited to see a woman do this. Josephine ayankoya we absolutely hope little girls from around San Francisco and the bay and around the world see women like willa and are inspired follo that pa willa i mean, this isht. Load is tight. You justits a lot. Joe johnson isnt just fighting the grip. Shes still fighting perception. Willa but if, you know, you actually get on on a nice sunny day, i got my nails on, got my makeup on. They be whispering to each other like, i know she not going to drive this car. Joe fannie mae barnes, the first woman to grip a cable car, mentored johnson. Willa and made me know that she was the first. Joe now its johnson helping to mentor the next generation of grip women. Willa its the thing to let them know, hey, its possible. You can do this if you like. Willa hold on. Joe every day johnson is climbing hills, rolling out different face of possibility. Willa im still gripping. Joe well, another San Francisco product, the burning man Arts Festival born on baker beach in 1986. Were on our way to petaluma to meet one of the festivals artists whos hoping to go out on top. Michael i started out in my parents black and white photo lab. Joe there are many journeys one can take with a camera, and in that sense photographer Michael Garlington has always aimed big. Michael i always shot large format. So, i mean, all the portraits were done with a four by five graflex. Joe he used his photography to create worlds of fantasy. As his photos got bigger, so did his ideas. Michael i had enough photos to start covering my volkswagen van with pictures, but that was the beginning of doing kind of architectural photo sculpture. Joe and that in a snapshot is what brings us to this. Michael hello and welcome to babel, a 60foot photographic sculpture. Joe garlingtons photos are the Building Blocks of what he calls his chapel of babel rising in a petaluma field. Michael what it is is really a gallery of the photos that ive been collecting for about 35 years. And this is my uncle steve stoich who passed away. So this is his honorarium. Michael right here we are in the halls of babel. On the walls are 5 year of my instagram feed because i knew i wanted a memory board. So what you see before us is the model of babel. Joe when its done, garlingtons tower will tower 60 feet over nevadas black rock desert. Michael six levels. One, two, three, and the top is a stained glass spire. This is our stained glass spire. Joe from its plywood core, every inch isered by garlons imaginatio michael right behind me, this is the great and powerful wizard of pa, my father philip garlington. I get up very early, sometimes around 3 a. M. So im working and im listening to mozart. Michael pay no attention to the man bd the curtain. Joarlingtons work stepped out from behind the curtain long ago. He created paper photo clothing to photograph actors Susan Sarandon and willem dafoe. His structures have appeared in the smithsonian, art galleries, and for many years at the burning man Arts Festival. Michael totem of confessions, the piece that we brought to burning man in 2015. Joe he and dozens of volunteers are now toiling toward the deadline for this years festival. Cheryl humbert he always has ahis vision and the way to execute it, and you kind of have to roll with it. Michael and at night it will be lit from the inside so it will be a beacon of beauty. Joe but after years making art for burning man, garlington says the tower of babel will bring down the curtain on this long chapter of his career. Michael this will be my final piece at burning man. I passed the torch to build these large structures on the playa. Cherylwell see ifre means it. Joe if he does mean it, itthey who buys glue by the gallon and paper by the mile. Michael whenever it gets a little hard, i look at my daughter and my beautiful partner and it just gets me through the day. Joe a journey that began in the lens of a camera, coming into focus through the eyes of an artist. Michael mozart is alive. Joe well, coming up, as the war in ukraine continues, we meet a bay area man working to spread a little joy in the wartorn country with sandwiches. rsv can bebe a dangererous virus. S. [s[sneeze] rsv can bebe a dangererous virus. S. For thohose 60 and d old. Rsv can bebe a dangererous virus. S. Itits not jusust a cold. And if y youre 60 o or olde. Youou may be atat incred risk of f hospitalizization. And if y youre 60 o or olde. [coughing]g]. F. From this h highly. [coughing]g]. Conontagious vivirus. Not t all dangerers come w with warnining labe. Talk to yoyour pharmacacist or d doctor. Not t all dangerers come w with warnining labe. Abobout gettingng vaccinad againsnst rsv todaday. Joe well, the war in ukraine has touched many parts of the globe, and it touched the heart of a bay area man not t all dangerers come w with warnining labe. Who fell in love with the country and is now doing whatever he can to help out. Joe there are some people who are always on the move. For one of those people, tommy joy, the job of a traveler was a perfect fit. Tommy joy im a sound engineer and a tour manager sometimes for bands. Joe hes been on the bus, on the stage, or behind the sound board for countless touring bands. Tommy ive been to many amazing places all over the world. Joe even during time off from the road, he kept on traveling. Tommy i knew nothing about ukraine actually at all. Joe one year he found ukraine and landed in its capital, kyiv. Tommy i fell in love with it. Joe he also fell in love with a ukrainian woman and tied the knot. When the pandemic clamped down on life in kyiv, like other locals he looked for a way to sustain himself. Tommy one of the things was i had started this secret kitchen. Kitchen was secret cause it was basically run out of my apartment. Joe the menu in his makeshift restaurant, sandwiches american style. Tommy Grilled Cheese sandwiches to them would be like a thin slice of cheese andbut for us its just like how much more cheese can we put in there. Joe joy was back in the states when russia invaded ukraine. His wife was living the horror that others watched on tv. Tommy the bombs started to drop. She was calling me and she was basically running out of the building to safety. Joe thats when the tour manager in joy kicked in. He arranged transportation for his wife out of ukraine. He hopped on a plane to poland, where he found thousands of fleeing ukrainian refugees. Tommy i wicking ufugees and just helping them get to their new homes. Joe he started crowdfunding to buy generators for businesses and tourniquets for ukrainian soldiers. And then he returned to kyiv and reopened his secret kitchen, the wartime version. Tommy the difference was i had some crowdfunding and give it all away. When the sirens go off, you know that somethings coming into ukraine. You just dont actually know where. I heard the gunfire, which is the Police Actually who are shooting at these drones. This building got hit hard. And theres these generators running everything. Joe he witnessed the highs and lows of the ukrainian spirit as missiles left massive potholes. Tommy and thats how big the hole is in the middle of the road to this in a week, and thats ukraine. Joe through simple comfort food, joy was hoping to bring comfort to those needing it the most. Tommy the people there are trying to live a normal life. It brought a little bit of normalcy. Jover a glitchy video nnection from kyivys friend chef zhenya mikenko enya mikhailenyou can cook a hell sandwich. And if hes doing something for the community, im sure he does a great job. Joe during a brief bay area visit between tours, joy was looking ahead to his upcoming return to his adopted country. Tommy i believe that theres going to be an end and theres going to be a rebuilding period, and id like to be there for that. Joe until that rebuilding begins, hes hoping a slice of cheese on a slice ofad can maybe rebu a littlice o. Tommy cause i can help, and i want to help. Joe well, there are many photographs of early San Francisco that give us a little glimpse of what life looked like back then, but one bay area man is combining photography and technology to give us an even wider window into the citys past. Nick wright San Francisco was a goldrich city that sort of sprang from nothing. Joe pictures of a city nick there have never been such a large number of photographers photographing a city growing so rapidly. Joe the early days of San Francisco nick this is what the city looked like before the earthquake and fire. Joe large numbers of photographers like Eadweard Muybridge and William Henry jackson fanned out with equally large cameras from glass negatives highlydetailed photos of the growing city. Nick this is a fiveplatemultiplate panorama by w. H. Jackson. Joe but its taken a century and a half, modern technology, and someone like nick wright to come along nick this is the palace hotel. Joe and finish that work. Nick so that would be how one of these would start out. Joe as someone who loves history and technology, the san jose man figured out modern tools can bring the past new life. Nick if you get enough of these picture joe uhotoshop, begagitalg you can put together. Together old pictures to create vast views of the eacity. Its a photojigsaw puzzle, tting together pi throuime. Joe in some cases wright ly put together pictures photographers shot in a series intended as panoramic views, but sometimes he weaves together photos merely shot from the same Vantage Point around the same period to create a panoramic picture that was never actually taken. Nick thats why i t le ive got pictures youeveen before because theyve never existed before. Its never been like this in 150 years. Joe the highquality photographs reveal intimate details of San Franciscos beginnings. Nick you see somebody in the window here. You can see the roofs or peoples laundry up on the roof. You get involved in peoples lives and you actually get quite emotional. You know, you see the you know, the struggle and the success and the loss. Joe wright, who runs two popular facebook sites devoted labe nearly every building d street in pictures. N further, nick this is the curvy street part of lombard. Joe wright has now created several hundred panoramas from old photos. For now they live his comr. Someday hed like to see them in a museum. Nick its all part he piece of the larger San Francisco le. Its great satisfaction, you know, to be able joe a case oftorytng that waiting foe t time and0 years. The right person to come along. Nick brushing away the haze of 100 years. When we come back, its off to San Franciscos chinatown where a new book is shining a light on the neighborhoods high fashion. Okay, i completely revised the org chart. Now where do i go . Well, how abouout right. Ththere . I rereport to ththe new breakfast t taco . Well, how abouout right. Ththere . Well, oes hahave jideanan sausage. Bus a taco. O. Get my n new breakftaco for just 1. 4. 49. Bus a taco. O. Hi, im john a and im frm dallllas, texas. S. My wififes name i is joy. Weve e been marriried 45 yea. Im takiking a twoyyear busisiness coursrse. Iveve been stududying a lo. Ive b been producucing and directining for overer 50 yea. Itss a very dedetailed thig and d the pressusures all o. I noticed d i really w wasnt ququite as shaharp as i waw. My boss s told me ababout prevn and i stararted takingng it. I feel shaharper. My memoryys a lot bebette. It j just works. S. Prevevagen. At s stores everee without a a prescriptition. Fofor fans of f my sourdouough, this is s for you. 100 beeff seseasoned as s it grills, hickckory smokeded bacon, 100 beeff seseasoned as s it grills, and d melty cheeeese on my origiginal sourdrdough. And for r my imitatotors. Betterer luck nextxt time. And d melty cheeeese on my origiginal sourdrdough. Try mymy sourdoughgh jack tod. Joe when you visit a neighborhood as scenic as San Franciscos chinatown you might not take notice of the and d melty cheeeese on my origiginal sourdrdough. People, but one San Francisco woman thought the neighborhoods fashionable seniors were something to celebrate. Joe when you visit San Franciscos chinatown, youre often caught up in the architecture or innate buildings of another place and time. But when valerie luu visits chinatown, she notices the people, especially the seniors. And their fashions. For years luu and photographer andria lo stalked chinatown, stopping chinese seniors to capture their styles. Valerie we see someones outfit that makes our jaws drop, we first try to get them to stop. Valerie very pretty. I like your scarf. Valerie our success rate is 10 . So most people will say thank you, which means no thank you. Joe those who said yes got their picture taken valerie what are we shopping for . Joe and a few questions. Valerie cause theyve lived lives. Theyve immigrated. Theyve had to start over many times. So we ask them like, what makes you happy . Valerie thats a beautiful hat. Valerie and after 7 years of, you know, chasing grandmas on the street, we had enough content for a book. Joe the book the pair created is called chinatown pretty. Valerie chinatown pretty is a book that celebrates the street style of chinatown seniors. Joe documented in chinatowns around the us, the book is a glimpse at the seniors at the heart of those communities. Valerie seniors have a lot of wisdom to impart, and we try to get the fashion wisdom along with the life wisdom. Valerie the colors you have on are very good. Joe among those profiled in the book, Estelle Kelley who came to oaklands chinatown from china as a child, living in foster homes until getting hired as a dancer at the famous San Francisco nightclub forbidden city. She died not long after the book came out. Kelsi seid and i just feel so grateful to chinatown pretty to be able to capture her looking so beautiful and share her story with such a broader audience. Valerie so bucket hats are a big part of chinatown culture. Beanie, classic. Joe luus own parents came as refugees to the us from southeast asia, yet the women she encounters in chinatown streets feel familiar. Valerie part of the reason why we started this is because we see our grandparents in these people that we see on the streets. Cathie lam to me its really so positive andjust by doing that Little Something which nobody notice, right . Joe its a project shining a light at a community that sometimes lives in the shadows. Valerie for me, chinatown pretty has taught me to just notice the people around me; and thats what i hope it does for our readers, is to say hello to your neighbor, say hello to like the Senior Citizens you see. Valerie i like your pants. Joe the book may be a simple reminder to simply look around and see the people walk in the sidewalk or going to the market, embracing the elders who add some true color to life. Valerie her hat also says fashion mode. Joe well, coming up, she developed her love of dance in her native india and is now spreading that love across the bay area. [bones cracking] tense mumusic one aleveve works alall day soso i can keeeep workingg my magagic. Justst one aleveve. 12 h hours of f uninterrupupd papain relief. F. Aleve. E. Who dodo you take e it for . Joe the bay area has always been a place where immigrants bring the arts and traditions of their native lands. Aleve. E. In this story, we visit a sunnyvale woman sharing the tradition of dance from her native india. Nitya i started learning bharatanatyam, which is a south asian dance form, when i was about 4 years old. A lot of like jumping, fast movements, and stuff. But its also very spiritual. Joe there are stories within the dancing of nitya narasimhan. Nitya it has the capacity to tell stories and to communicate emotions to people. Joe stories from her native india where dancing was the cornerstone of her childhood. Nitya the culture is just a part of me. Joe but like with so many passions, life and career intervened. Narasimhan went to college to become a software developer, leaving her dancing behind. Nitya at some point i felt like there was a disconnect between me and the dance. Joe but the love of dance never died. As time went on, she found herself turning more and more to her old love. Nitya slowly i began to realize that this is what im meant to do. Joe narasimhan began choreographing routines, performi