It’s Tuesday night at Neck of the Woods on Clement Street. Small groups of friends greet each other in the doorway while the lone bartender struggles to open the bar on time.

In the depths of the bar is a stage, where quizmaster Noah Tarnow hastily stuffs candy and gift certificates into brown paper prize bags on a table draped with a red velvet cloth. The show doesn’t start for an hour, but Tarnow likes to be prepared. He paces back and forth on stage, double checking plugs and flipping through pages on several clipboards. Tarnow said he always gets nervous energy before performances, and it shows as he fidgets with the cords and clipboards.

The bar fills up, which isn’t difficult considering its intimate space. According to its website, Neck of the Woods has served as a music venue since 1973. Otis Redding, Etta James and even Metallica have played there. Now it also hosts Salsa classes, open mic nights and Russian karaoke.

But every other Tuesday, the stage belongs to Tarnow and his live trivia event, “The Big Quiz Thing.”

Tarnow grew up in New Jersey, and later Montreal, with his parents and his older sister. “I always wanted to perform and be a star,” Tarnow said. “I remember being in kindergarten and being jealous of first graders because they got to do a school play.”

Tarnow was a self-described nerdy, goody-goody kid. He loved to collect facts and information, which shaped his interest in trivia writing. When he was 14-years-old, Tarnow developed a love for classic rock. His love, however, was mostly about knowing everything about the music, rather than the music itself.

“One long weekend, the classic rock radio station I listened to in Montreal counted down the top 500 rock songs of all time,” Tarnow said, “And not only did I listen to the whole thing and record it while I was sleeping, I made a grid and would check off artist and title and do I recognize this song, do I have it in my collection, and I would make mix tapes and catalog all my mix tapes.”

Tarnow attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, about an hour-long drive south of Minneapolis. He described Carleton College as, “The Harvard of the Midwest.”

Tarnow majored in American studies and minored in media studies. He also geared his learning toward his personal interests by unofficially creating a popular culture studies program for himself. He wrote a paper about the history of Halloween, did an independent study about pop music and wrote his thesis about Batman as a pop culture icon.

“I was always steering in that direction, and I got a lot of push back,” Tarnow said. “The head of the American studies department didn’t have a lot of respect for pop culture as a topic of study.”

After college, Tarnow moved to New York and tried his hand at a few different careers, but struggled with timing. He briefly worked at Rolling Stone magazine as an assistant to the music editor, with the hopes of using his vast music knowledge to become a rock critic.

“I wanted to be the nerd who sat in his basement and wrote record reviews. Now, this was the late 90s, so that kind of Lester Bangs character didn’t really exist anymore. If you wanted to be a music critic at the time, you had to be willing to go out there and interview people, and I hated interviewing people, and I was terrible at it,” Tarnow said. “Of course if it had been a few years later, I could have written a blog or something.”

In his early 20s, he tried to break into standup comedy, which he admitted was also not for him.

“There were moments it was great, but I’m of the opinion you have to be crazy to do that,” Tarnow said. “You have to almost have a pathological need to do it.”

But trivia writing as a career was always at the forefront of Tarnow’s mind. He applied to be a writer for “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” but was once again the victim of poor timing. Tarnow said at the time he applied, the show was not producing the amount of episodes it was at the beginning, and the demand for writers was not as high.

“It sounds to me like if I had been a year earlier, I would have gotten the job,” Tarnow said.

In the early 2000s, Tarnow had an idea. After attending a couple pub quizzes, he thought he could combine the pub quiz that with his knack for performing, which spawned “The Big Quiz Thing.”

“The Big Quiz Thing” premiered in October of 2002 at the Slipper Room in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Tarnow said he thought the first night went really well, and decided to run with it from there.

The show evolved from a written test format to a multimedia puzzle game. Answers to questions are submitted through an online app that Tarnow created. Tarnow conceptualizes the visual puzzle questions, and his friend, Eric De Picciotto, or EdP, puts them together.

EdP was an audience member at the first “The Big Quiz Thing.” Tarnow said there were no videos and very little audio at the time, and EdP helped Tarnow with multimedia to make it more like a game show.

EdP is now one of the quizmasters for “The Big Quiz Thing” in New York.

Tarnow formatted “The Big Quiz Thing” for corporate events and parties to make it profitable. He tailors quizzes specifically for each event, whether it’s gearing the questions for a specific age group, or writing questions about a guest of honor.

“I did an event last year where the youngest person in the room had to be 75, and I loved that! Sitting down and going, ‘All right, what do people in their 80s know?’” Tarnow said while laughing. “They know movies from 40s, they know history, I love that stuff!”

However, not every event runs as smoothly. Tarnow said the first bar mitzvah he did, the crowd was rough. He said one kid threw a lime wedge at his head, and another tried to steal his wallet.

Since the show has a multimedia format, there have been instances of technical errors. Tarnow said one venue didn’t have the equipment he needed, so he had to run to Radio Shack right before the event to buy the necessary cords.

“One of the hardest parts of being a quizmaster is you’re both an entertainer and an administrator,” Tarnow said. “You’re both instructor and performer.”

In addition to his quizmaster duties, Tarnow worked as a copy editor for Time Out New York magazine for about 10 years. He also occasionally served as a writer and panelist for NPR’s quiz show, “Ask Me Another.”

“The Big Quiz Thing” had a short-lived stint on TV in 2013, but poor timing once again got the better of Tarnow. He said a producer who works for the official TV network arm of the New York City government approached him about doing a New York-themed quiz show on the New York City Life Network.

“Right around [that] time, there was a transition in city government,” Tarnow said. “So most of the people we worked with left during the process.” He also said the show wasn’t marketed well, which didn’t give it the exposure it deserved.

“The Big Quiz Thing” currently operates in Manhattan, Queens, Boston and now San Francisco. Tarnow relocated to the West Coast about three months ago because he needed a change from New York and always wanted to live in California.

In January, “The Big Quiz Thing” is moving from Neck of the Woods in the Richmond District to Codeword in SOMA. The event at Codeword will charge a $7 cover charge for tickets in advance, and $10 for tickets at the door. Tarnow hopes the more centralized location will bring a larger crowd.

“In New York especially we charge a cover and offer more prizes, so there’s more involved. But it’s convincing people that that’s worth paying for,” Tarnow said.

Currently, Tarnow is figuring out what’s next in his career. He plans to market his app for other trivia events and grow his corporate trivia event business in San Francisco.

“I believe my product is excellent, but selling it is always a challenge.”

Technology and advertising often come with a reputation of negatively altering communities. Futures Without Violence aims to use those tools for public good.

San Francisco-based national nonprofit public benefit corporation, Futures Without Violence, or FUTURES, was founded in 1989. It regularly uses technology to reach the public through webinars, public service announcements and social media.

FUTURES’ webinars occur up to three times per month, and cover a wide range of topics relating to violence prevention and health. Participants can register ahead of time to listen to guest speakers and view slide shows. A chat window enables participants to ask questions and interact with other participants and the guest speakers.

On Thursday, November 19, there are two webinars related to health. Ending the Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline: A Public Health Approach and Open Enrollment: How the Affordable Care Act can help patients experiencing abuse are scheduled for 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PST.

FUTURES launched a PSA campaign in 2001 called Teach Early, as an effort to engage men in the domestic violence prevention movement. Over time, it inspired a separate program, Coaching Boys Into Men.

CBIM provides teaching materials and webinars through its website to help coaches talk to their teams about healthy relationships and respecting women. Eleanor Davis from the Public Education Campaign and Programs Department at FUTURES said CBIM covers topics digital disrespect, locker room conversations and consent.

“Now at this point in 2015, we have hundreds of people all across the country who are implementing the program,” Davis said. “It’s had an amazing lifespan as a campaign so far.”

In June 2015, FUTURES and The Ad Council relaunched the 2001 Teach Early campaign as #TeachEarly. The campaign utilized national television, radio, digital and outdoor PSAs to encourage male mentors to talk to young men about domestic and sexual violence. The campaign’s website also posted photos sourced with the hashtag, #TeachEarly, to promote teachable moments about violence prevention between mentors and young men.

Davis said the relaunch was in response to recent events of violence and sexual assault in the professional athletic community, and the media attention it got.

“We re-released the Teach Early ad,” Davis said, “Anticipating the Super Bowl and garnering a lot of attention, sort of galvanizing that energy for what’s happening in sports right now.”

Last February, NO MORE, a campaign to raise public awareness about domestic abuse and sexual assault, made the first PSA about domestic violence to air during the Super Bowl.

According to the NO MORE website, FUTURES works as an ally with NO MORE, and serves on its Steering Committee.

In an email, Davis said she was not aware of any plans for Teach Early to air an ad during this year’s Super Bowl.

German International School of Silicon Valley, or GISSV, is an independent, nonprofit, bilingual school with campuses in Mountain View, Berkeley and San Francisco. The Mountain View campus offers preschool through 12^th grade, the Berkeley campus offers preschool through eighth grade and the San Francisco campus offers kindergarten through fourth grade.

What makes this school stand out is its bilingual learning approach. In kindergarten, there are two teachers in the classroom; one always speaks English, and one always speaks German. In first and second grade, instruction is entirely in German. After that, instruction is bilingual.

“Of course the kids, they can reply to me in both languages,” said Jana Buechel, a German-speaking kindergarten teacher at GISSV San Francisco campus. “They can ask me in English and I’ll just answer them in German.”

The curriculum is based on the German government’s approved standards, while also covering the California curriculum. The school follows the United States’ Common Core Standards, and is a recognized MINT school, which is the German equivalent of STEM.

Principal for the Berkeley and San Francisco campuses, Martin Walter, said early bilingual education is very important for brain development and international mindedness.

“You will not get the guarantee of this,” Walter said, “But as far as I know and what I’ve read about it, this is something that is a good idea to do.”

According to a paper published by the American Educational Research Association in the Review of Educational Research, young bilingual speakers can focus their attention easier than monolingual speakers. The same paper said in 20 out of 24 studies, bilingual speakers outperformed monolingual speakers in creative and divergent thinking, and abstract and symbolic reasoning.

Soeren Stamer’s son, Finn, is in kindergarten at the GISSV San Francisco campus. Stamer said the bilingual curriculum is a gift.

“For me, language learning was hard. For my kids, it’s like, effortless,” Stamer said.

In their home, Stamer’s children speak German to him and English to his wife. He said speaking multiple languages helps his children communicate better with others.

“That’s a very powerful idea that language can be different for different people,” Stamer said.

However, not all parents of GISSV are German speakers. During an open house presentation at the San Francisco campus on Nov. 7, one parent asked how she could help her child with homework when she does not speak the language.

“Most of the children stay here for the homework because we have a German-speaking teacher or homework helper,” Buechel said.

Students at the San Francisco campus may be too young to realize the effects of bilingual education, but older students testify its benefits.

In a video testimony presented at the open house, former student Jessica Spradlin said the multilingual and multicultural aspects of her education set her apart from her peers.

“I can really look back and say that my educational experience was both unique and really valuable to me,” Spradlin said.

On Wednesday, Sept. 30, residents of San Francisco’s Hayes Valley neighborhood gathered at City Hall with hopes of protecting a local gem.

The Budget and Finance Committee met to discuss an amendment to the lease for Parcel L, a space at the northeast corner of Octavia Blvd. and Fell St. The amendment would extend the lease through Jan. 31, 2021, and increase the monthly base rent to $5,573.67, starting on Nov. 1, 2015.

The alternative to extending the lease would be selling the land in order to build a housing development. The profits from that sale would fund transportation improvements in Hayes Valley.

Many residents and business owners attended the meeting to show support for Biergarten, a beer garden and restaurant that currently occupies Parcel L. They presented the committee with story after story about how the Biergarten was a special place in the neighborhood.

Annette Lomont and her husband visit the Biergarten two to three times per week. “The garden has become a second home for us, and the staff, a family,” she said.

Sarah Clusen Buecher spoke in support of the amendment. “With the massive amount of construction going on in Hayes Valley, it makes sense to hit the pause button, let the other projects be built and we won’t be sacrificing anything in the mean time,” she said.

Not everyone, however, spoke in favor of extending the lease. Robin Levitt, a resident of Hayes Valley for over 20 years, said that even though he loves the Biergarten, the neighborhood is in greater need of housing.

After public comment was closed, Supervisor Eric Mar said he was in great support of extending the lease because it was a tremendous community benefit to the neighborhood. Supervisor Mark Farrell also spoke in favor of the amendment.

“I think this comes down to a quality of life issue in our neighborhood,” Supervisor Farrell said.

The committee unanimously voted to amend the lease.

After the vote, supporters of the amendment gathered outside the legislative chamber to celebrate.

“I am thrilled the extension passed,” Lomont said.

A free T-shirt and meal, a story to tell and access to bathrooms: These are just some of the reasons people sign up to volunteer at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco.

The annual festival has called Golden Gate Park its home for fifteen years. It remains free of cost for the hundreds of thousands of attendees, thanks to the late philanthropist and bluegrass lover, F. Warren Hellman, who founded and sponsored the event.

The generous roots of the festival have not gone unnoticed. Every year, volunteers donate their time and energy to keep the festival running like a well-oiled machine.

“It’s free, so why not do something free to help the free concert,” said Kathie Rothkop, volunteer and drummer for the Petaluma-based Americana band, Foxes in the Hen House.

Volunteer positions include setting up and taking down stages, assisting with parking cars and bikes, collecting and sorting waste and managing the museum and penny press. All volunteers receive a free T-shirt and meal. According to Rothkop, volunteers also get access to bathrooms backstage.

“That’s a bonus,” Rothkop said.

Bob and Sheila Duncan traveled from Hutchinson, Kansas to attend the festival and visit their son, Jeremiah, who lives in San Francisco.

The Duncans are no strangers to bluegrass festivals. They frequent the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, which holds national and international fingerpicking and flatpicking competitions for banjoes, dulcimers and other acoustic instruments.

“It’s similar to this but on a very small scale,” Bob said, “We sort of knew what we were getting into.”

While looking through the lineup of bands on Hardly Strictly’s website, they noticed a link for volunteer sign-ups. “We just thought it would be really cool,” Sheila said. Bob added that it would also make for a good story to tell when they got back to Kansas.

Bob and Sheila volunteered to decorate the Arrow Stage. “It was brutal, man! They worked us like dogs!” Bob said while laughing.

From 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, they did tasks like setting up tables and the backstage area. Bob explained that the festival employs people to do the majority of setting up, so the volunteers do little, time consuming projects so the employees don’t have to.

Moria Bardsley has volunteered for six years running the penny press, which makes souvenir pennies for festivalgoers. For the last three years her 11-year-old daughter, Mellody Mae, has worked alongside her.

“I am a professional at it now,” Mellody Mae said.

“It’s the best job,” Moria said. “Apparently they like to put the mouthy blondes on the penny press, which works well for me.”

Volunteers are encouraged to sign up for multiple shifts. Moria said she’s worked multiple shifts before, but prefers to work an early shift so she can see the bands she wants to see. She also said she’s lucky to be assigned to her preferred job every year, rather than a position in waste management.

“My hat is off to those people because I’m not doing that!” Moria said.

That position, however, was Kelsey McGill’s first choice. McGill volunteered to look in the landfill, recycle and compost bins scattered throughout the park grounds and make sure everything was in its right place.

“It’s good to help out, especially with something as impactful as waste,” McGill said.

McGill attended the festival last year as a spectator. Like the other volunteers, she was interested in a more rewarding experience.

“It’s humbling to see that there are other people out there helping too,” she said.

My name is Stephanie LaRue. I’m a 27-year-old journalism student at San Francisco State University. I moved here from Vancouver, Washington almost two years ago, and I’ve been pretty stubborn about acclimating to San Francisco. But now I’m taking the plunge into the fog!

Over the next few months I will explore the Richmond and Presidio Districts in northwest San Francisco and report my discoveries to this blog. Follow me as I venture out of the comfort of my apartment and into an area of the city with which I am completely unfamiliar!