Emperor Norton, is that you?
San Francisco’s hardest-working street crazy is Frank Chu. He commutes from Oakland to San Francisco every day, and protests with a professionally printed picket sign (paid for by advertising on its reverse.) He has a complicated set of complaints involving the 12 Galaxies:
Frank Chu holds Bill Clinton responsible for directing the CIA to withhold payment to him for being the star of something called “The Richest Family” during the presidency of George H.W. Bush. His protests frequently call for the impeachment of Clinton although Clinton is no longer in office. Bill Clinton and various other US Presidents are frequently accused by Mr. Chu of cooperating with the 12 Galaxies to commit crimes and treasons. Mr. Chu is strongly interested in television reporters and newscasters, who will bring him the publicity he requires to inform the world of the injustices committed against him. This wave of publicity will cause a public outcry, which will result in the impeachment of various US Presidents and the awarding of “$20 billions” in compensation to Frank for the damages he and his family have suffered.
Chu’s 12 Galaxies are the eponym of a San Francisco night club; they give him free drinks.
They don’t believe that someone has named a nightclub after this man’s strange vernacular, and they certainly don’t believe that that nightclub throws the occasional party celebrating said man, that it donates a portion of the proceeds from the art auction to him, that it lets him eat and drink for free whenever he wants. But it does. Still, that doesn’t stop some people from suspecting that 12 Galaxies is exploiting Chu. Adam Bergerson, the club’s co-owner, doesn’t see it that way. “It’s a fine line,” he says. “I’m constantly fighting the public perception of, ‘You’re making fun of him.’ But I just dig the dude. We’re good to him; he’s good to us.”
(I’ve previously mentioned Chu’s predecessor, Emperor Norton here and here.)
=v= Emperor Norton's rein is the only monarchy I would ever voluntarily submit to. He was a San Francisco cyclist who decreed that the Bay Bridge be built, pretty much at the location where it was built. Years later, we're still fighting to bike it.
Frank Chu is much beloved by San Francisco cyclists as well. The people who see him every day are bike messengers, and he shows up at Critical Mass (last Friday of every month -- that's today) with his sign.
Posted by jym on January 27 2006 12:25