It was Cherry Blossom Festival time here in San Francisco in mid-April – the 44th such celebration in Japantown,and, once again, my buddy George Yamasaki served as the public address announcer, telling the crowds gathered along Post Street about the various contingents, floats, and dignitaries, from mayors and mayoral candidates to Hello Kitty and anime characters.
After 40 years of handling commentary duties on his own, George, an attorney and a pianist who accompanies me on my occasional singing sortieson unsuspecting audiences, asked me to sidekick. That meant reading a fewof the descriptions from the script, and dashing onto the street and doing a couple of interviews.
Mayor Ed Lee was one of them, and I wanted to ask him for the best and worst aspects of h is time in City Hall, which began in February as an interim appointment and ends when the next elected mayor takes office in January. Mayor Lee, who’s proven to be an effective and popular chief executive, waxed so rhapsodic about the “best” stuff that I gave up on the worst. Still, as we passed the VIP seats, where a bevy of beauty queens and princesses were perched, I asked, “Is the second best thing getting to walk by all these lovely women?” No, he said. But only because some of them had already dropped by City Hall for a photo op.
Later, State Sen. Leland Yee strode up to chat. We’d seen each other at various community events, including a Jerry Garcia Day concert, where he reminisced about...