Totally San Francisco

Here's a classic SF story about "earthquake shacks" -- leftover temporary housing from the earthquake that happeneed 99 years ago -- that are still standing being removed for historical rehabilitation.

What makes this a classic SF story is its connection to the earthquake. Basically only four things have ever happened in SF: the Gold Rush, the earthquake, the Summer of Love, and the queer revolution -- and the last two may be combined. In order for something to be a classic SF story, it has to be connected with one of those somehow.

For example, the infamous dog mauling case that happened a few years ago: the victim was a lesbian, the lawyers who cared for the dog had some kind of weird crypto-sexual relationship with the convict who who actually owned him, and the case became the impetus for a new California law giving domestic partners greater rights. And, of course, it was also a classic SF story because of its sheer bizarre nature.

Or another classic SF story, which took place in about 1980. At the famous Condor Club in San Francisco there was a grand piano which was the stage on which Carol Doda descended from the ceiling during her long run there. By 1980 Doda made only the occasional appearance but the piano was still functional. One night after the club closed, one of the strippers was fucking one of the club's doormen on top of the piano when somehow the mechanism became engaged and the piano began ascending. The girl managed to jump off but the 300-pound doorman couldn't, and was crushed against the ceiling. That is so classic I don't even need to explain why. Unfortunately that incident is not recorded anywhere on the internet. Maybe I'll have to go to the library to actually get the story and type it in, because it really should live on.