love fest san francisco

Media Credit: BY ROCHELLE STOWE FOR THE SANTA CLARA
Sightings of unusually tall men in pin-striped suits are far from unusual at San Francisco's annual LoveFest.


A crowd of 65,000 punctuated by neon spandex, golden nipple tassels, tie-dye, sequins, leather and feathers fill Market Street in San Francisco every year at the electronic dance parade LoveFest this Saturday.

Modeled after Berlin's world famous Loveparade, San Francisco's LoveFest is America's largest dance music celebration that features top international DJs spinning electronic house, techno, trance, break, drum, bass and hip-hop beats.

The objective of the parade is to provide an inclusive, unifying celebration of essential human values through music and dance, according to the LoveFest San Francisco official Web site.

The creators of LoveFest believe in the "universal vibe" of dance music that brings people together in a special way. The Web site states: "We know that in a culture awash with conflict, materialism, superficial concerns and greed, an event of this kind can lift the spirits and the hopes of those who to surrender to its power. The power of dance. The power of music. The power of community."

The parade happens Saturday, but the LoveWeek celebrations last from Wednesday through Sunday. The opening parties and LoveFest Dinner happen earlier in the week, but this upcoming Friday features the official pre-party, hosting The Chemical Brothers at The Concourse. On Saturday, the parade proceeds down Market Street and ultimately merges with the dance party that has already begun outside of City Hall.

"LoveFest is about expressing yourself in any way you want to -- through music, clothing, no clothing, any way at all," said sophomore Page Nichols, who attended last year.

The attendees at LoveFest are more than spectators; they are part of the show. Last year featured 23 floats, 25 sound systems and over 200 DJs spinning en route to Civic Center Plaza where the parade culminated in an after-party that showcased the talents of Grandmaster Flash and Paul Oakenfold. Highlights in this year's line-up include performances by Gabriel & Dresden, Infected Mushroom, Ladytron, Future Funk Squad and The Crystal Method.

"It's a great way to see the City; it's very unique to San Francisco," said sophomore Jamie Ryan.

The tradition of social-norm-breaking at LoveFest reappears every year in the form of outrageous and colorful costumes, unconventional dancing, atypical floats and a collective dance party in front of the City Hall.

"It felt like I was on a cultural acid trip," said sophomore Lucy Kelly.

LoveFest, the American reincarnation of the Berlin Loveparade, was also called Loveparade when it began. In 2006, with the return of the real Berlin Loveparade, San Francisco retitled its celebration the LoveFest. The San Francisco LoveFest is a volunteer, non-profit organization, sending the profits from official sponsors and spectators' small donations back into production for the next year's festival and to participating non-profit organizations.

"It was the first weekend before school and my first introduction to San Francisco in my life. Since then, it stands out in my mind as how I think about San Francisco. That kind of thing doesn't happen anywhere else," said Nichols.

Founder of the Berlin Loveparade Dr. Motte said, "The San Francisco LoveFest itself is part of a much wider personal, social and spiritual transformation-revolution which will utterly change our world over the coming decades. With this next evolution of the event, we are about to take a step into a different future in which all that is best and most beautiful in the human soul will find the right conditions to flower."

The parade will begin at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29, and will start at the corner of Market and 2nd Street.

In the words of the Berlin Loveparade founder, "This is our future. Open your heart ... Free your mind ... Face your fears ... Live your soul ... Dance!"
If you're in San Francisco and you're into blues, leather, comedy, biking, running or blessing fishing boats, you're in luck this weekend.

But you just may want to leave your car at home.

A plethora of events will grace the city by the bay today and Sunday, including the Lovefest Parade and Celebration, the Blues Festival, the Folsom Street Fair and Comedy Day. Several bicycle riding events as well as the Bridge to Bridge Run are also scheduled to take over - or at least share - many city streets.

Combined, the events are expected to equal a lot of fun - and a ton of traffic headaches.

"There are just so many events - it's San Francisco, and everybody wants to be here and do things here," said Maggie Lynch, spokeswoman for the Municipal Transportation Agency, which runs the city's transit system and traffic department. "We recommend, as always, that you take transit."

The Lovefest Parade - a huge parade ending with a dance party at Civic Center - will begin at noon today at Second Street near Market Street; attendees will begin gathering around 10 a.m. Last year, the event attracted 65,000 people. The party will affect 11 Muni lines in the downtown area and will shut down Market Street for several hours.

Also on the schedule today are two bicycle rides: the Waves to Wine event and the California Coast Classic ride.

Waves to Wine will start at Third and King streets and head to Healdsburg by way of the Golden Gate Bridge; the 500-mile California Coast Classic begins at Van Ness Avenue and Post Street and will head to the Presidio and along the Great Highway. Neither is expected to affect transit or cause street closures, but they may cause traffic delays.

Traffic officials also anticipate the Blues Festival at Fort Mason all day today and Sunday will affect traffic and bring heavy ridership to transit lines serving the Marina.

On Sunday, the Folsom Street Fair will dominate the South of Market area, shutting down several streets and affecting eight bus lines.

Routes along the Embarcadero and into the Presidio will also be closed for the Bridge to Bridge run Sunday morning, and several North Beach streets will be blocked off most of the day for the Blessing of the Fishing Fleet.

Any transit lines that are being rerouted or affected will be clearly marked and new routes will be posted at bus stops, Lynch said. Riders can also call 311 if they are in the city or 511 from the rest of the region to access transit schedules and get help planning trips. They can also visit www.sfmta .com or www.511.org.

But whether you're in a bus or a car, Lynch urged patience.

Muni "is also going to get slowed down in traffic just like everyone else ... but the fewer cars out there, the less impacted we will certainly be," she said. "And if you're on a bus or a train, you can read a book while waiting, as opposed to sitting in traffic and fuming."

'The production support awarded with the Black Pearl is truly one-of-a-kind,' said Nashwa Al-Ruwaini. 'We are confident that it will help propel its recipient into the next level of filmmaking.'

'We are thrilled with the line-up of films we have in Competition,' said Festival Director Jon Fitzgerald. 'They represent world-class talent, a terrific combination of critically acclaimed films, award winners and crowd pleasers.'

The Official Competition is primarily comprised of films by emerging directors. Filmmakers will compete in three sections: Fiction, Documentary and Short Films. Fiction will feature 12 films; Documentary section is comprised of six films; and the Short Film section features 18 films.

The Black Pearl trophy is a handmade sculpture representing the exquisite black pearl, a rare and precious jewel originally discovered along the shallow waters of the Abu Dhabi coastline. It is a powerful symbol linked to the history and culture of Abu Dhabi.


Fiction Competition (12)
BEN X (Belgium) directed by Nic Balthazar. With Greg Timmermans, Marijke Pinoy, Laura Verlinden, Pol Goossen, Titus De Voogdt, Maarten Claeyssens.

Ben is a mildly autistic boy, frequently the target of school bullies. Inspired by his token online computer game, ArchLord, and Scarlite, a mystery girl he met in the game, Ben devises a plan.

** Official Belgian submission for the Academy Awards? Foreign Language Film. Received the Most Popular Film, the Grand Prix des Amériques, and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 2007 Montreal World Film Festival.

CARAMEL (France/Lebanon) directed by Nadine Labaki. With Nadine Labaki, Adel Karam, Yasmine Al Masri, Joanna Moukarzel, Gisele Aouad, Sihame Haddad.

A warm-hearted comedy following the lives of women working in a Lebanese beauty salon, where love, laughter and tears fight for attention.

** Official Lebanese submission for the Academy Awards? Foreign Language Film. Screened at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

THE COUNTERFEITERS (Die F?lscher) (Germany/Austria) directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky. With Karl Markovics, August Diehl, Marie B?umer, Devid Striesow.

In the biggest counterfeit money scam of all time, over 130 million sterling pounds are printed by a team of prisoners from German concentration camps.

** Official Austrian submission for the Academy Awards? Foreign Language Film. 2007 German Film Awards Best Actor in a Supporting Role Award - Devid Striesow. Screened in Competition at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival and the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival.

ECHO (Denmark) directed by Anders Morgenthaler. With Peter Stormare, Kim Bodnia, Sine Fischer Christensen, Villads Milthers Fritsche.
Simon is a police officer who recently lost custody of his six-year-old son in a divorce. In his desperation, he abducts his son and takes him to the country where they hide in a vacated summerhouse.

**Screened at the 2007 San Sebastian Film Festival and 2007 Danish Film Institute Festival.

THE GOOD NIGHT (USA/United Kingdom) directed by Jake Paltrow. With Penélope Cruz, Martin Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Simon Pegg, Danny DeVito.

Gary Shaller is at a crossroads in his life. As a former pop star who now writes commercial jingles for a living, he experiences a mid-life crisis. Set in London and New York, the film follows a man's search for perfection in a world where life rarely measures up to idealized images.

**Premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and screened at 2007 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the 2007 Moscow Film Festival.

GRACE IS GONE (USA) directed by James Strouse. With Nathan Adloff, John Cusack, Doug Dearth, Gracie Bednarczyk.

Upon hearing his wife was killed in the Iraq war, a father takes his two daughters on a road trip.

**Screened in Competition at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

LA ZONA (Spain/Mexico) directed by Rodrigo Plá. With Daniel Giménez Cacho, Maribel Verdú, Daniel Tovar, Alan Chávez.

A teenager living inside an isolated residential 'Zone,' guarded by private security, finds himself protecting a boy accused of murder by his vigilante father and neighbors.

**Received the 2007 Toronto FIPRESCI International Critics' Award and the Luigi De Laurentiis Award at the 2007 Venice Film Festival.

LUCKY MILES (Australia) directed by Michael James Rowland. With Kenneth Moraleda, Rodney Afif, Srisaco Sacopraseuth, Don Hany, Glenn Shea, Sean Mununggurr, Sawung Jabo, Arif Hidayat.

When a group of Iraqi and Cambodian refugees are abandoned in a remote part of Western Australia, three of the men escape arrest and begin an epic journey through the desert.

**Received the Audience Award for Best Feature at the 2007 Sydney Film Festival and the Special Jury Prize at the 2007 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

THE MILKY WAY (A Via Láctea) (Brazil) Directed by Lina Chamie. With Marco Ricca, Alice Braga, Fernando Alves Pinto.

Heitor and Júlia are deeply in love. After a heated phone conversation, he decides to go and see her face-to-face. On his way through the streets of S?o Paulo at sunset, Heitor observes the city as it begins to interfere in his thoughts.

**Received Casa de América Award at the 2006 San Sebastian Film Festival and screened at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

NOT BY CHANCE (N?o Por Acaso) (Brazil) directed by Philippe Barcinski and produced by Fernando Meirelles. With Rodrigo Santoro, Leonardo Medeiros, Letícia Sabatella, Branca Messina, Rita Batata, Graziela Moretto, Cássia Kiss, Jo?o Paulo Zucatelli.

Two men have never met, but they have a common lifestyle based on precision, control and method, until an unpredictable accident involving two women will forever change the course of their lives.

**Received the Alfred P. Sloan Grant at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and the Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress Awards at the 2007 Recife CE PE Audiovisual Festival. Developed at Sundance Screenwriters Lab.

THE OWL AND THE SPARROW ((Cú và chim se se) (United States/Vietnam) directed by Stephane Gauger. With Cat Ly, Le The Lu, Pham Thi Han.

A beautiful flight attendant looking for love; a lonely zookeeper hiding within his animal kingdom from a changing society; a little orphan girl selling roses on the streets. It's modern-day Saigon, where eight million people are just trying to keep up with the pace.

**Received the Audience Award and Best Narrative Feature at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival and the Best Narrative Feature at the 2007 San Francisco Asian American Film Festival. Screened at the 2007 Rotterdam International Film Festival.

PERSEPOLIS (France) directed by Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud. With Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Simon Abkarian, Gabrielle Lopes, Fran?ois Jerosme.

A poignant coming-of-age story about a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl that begins during the Islamic revolution.

** Official French submission for the Academy Awards? Foreign Language Film. Awarded the 2007 Cannes Jury Prize. Screened at the 2007 Telluride Film Festival, in Special Presentations at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, and will be the Closing Night Film at the New York Film Festival.


Documentary Competition (6)
HEAR AND NOW (USA) directed by Irene Taylor Brodsky. With Paul Taylor, Sally Taylor.

A documentary memoir following a filmmaker's deaf parents as they receive a complex surgical implant that allows them to experience sound for the first time.

**Received the Audience Award at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

I LOVE HIP HOP IN MOROCCO (Morocco/USA) directed by Joshua Asen and Needleman. With Achraf Aarab, Adil Benchakeroune, Amine Yahyaou, Azzedine Bouhoute, Fatima Medaoui, Hatim Bensaleha, Joshua Asen, Khalid Douache, Khalid Filalli, Khalifa Mennani, Khalil Belkas, Mohassine Tizaf, Othman Benhami, Ouassim Addoula, Taofik Hazeb.

A group of Moroccan Hip Hop artists dream of organizing a professional concert in their hometown, but resistance is strong and money scarce.

**Received the Best Documentary at the 2007 Atlanta Hip Hop Festival and the Jury Award at the 2007 Thin Line Fest. Screened at the 2007 H20 International Hip Hop Festival and the 2007 Rhode Island International Film Festival.

NEW YEAR BABY (USA/ Cambodia) directed by Socheata Poeuv. With Nin Poeuv , Houng Poeuv, Socheata Poeuv, Scott Poeuv, Leachena Poeuv, Mala Poeuv.

A window into the lives of six Cambodians who escape the Khmer Rouge genocide and become Americans.

**Received the 'Movies That Matter' Award at the 2006 Amsterdam Documentary Film Festival, the Best Documentary at the 2007 AFI Dallas International Film Festival, the Audience Award at the 2007 Los Angeles VC Film Festival, Best Documentary at the 2007 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.

THE POWER OF THE GAME (USA) directed by Michael Apted. With Danny Jordaan, Landon Donovan, Bruce Arena, Malin Gorji, Fabian Ferraro, Zeshan Rehman, Jimmy Adjovi-Bocco.

An examination of the social impact of soccer across the world. Six stories are followed from five continents, each one connected to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, all bound together with a passion for the game.

**Screened at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.

SALATA BALADI (Egypt/France/Switzerland) directed by Nadia Kamel. With Nadia Kamel, Mary Kamel, Sa'ad Kamel.

A multilingual and multiethnic documentary about director Nadia Kamel's family's century-old history of mixed marriages.

** Premiered at 2007 Locarno Film Festival.

WE ARE TOGETHER (United Kingdom) directed by Paul Taylor. With Mbali, Mthobisi Moya, Nonkululeko Moya, Sifiso Moya, Slindile Moya, Swaphiwe Moya, Zodwa Mqadi, Paul Simon, Kanye West.

A documentary about life in an African orphanage where the children are united by a love of singing.

**Received the Audience Award at the 2007 Edinburgh International Film Festival, the Audience Award and the Special Jury Prize at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival, and the Audience Award and the First Appearance Award at the 2007 Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival.


Short Film Competition (18)

AND LIFE WENT ON (United Kingdom) directed by Maryam Mohajer. With Azadeh Sepehri, Houman Hajiabdollahi, Katayoun Ghalandarha, Kaveh Ghalandarha, Leyla Hosseini, Rojin Bitaraf, Roshan Hooshmand, Salimeh Ghotbi. Animation.

As an air raid siren resonates in Tehran, neighbors rush to the basement shelter, where we see how people react…. and it's not always as one might expect!

**Premiered at the Eksj? Animation Festival 2007, the DOK-Leipzig Animation and Documentary Festival 2007, London International Animation Festival 2007.

AQUARIUM (USA) directed by Rob Meyer. With Jeremy White, Kaitlin Kiyan, Zachary Brian, Matthew Simpson, James Lurie, Maggie Phillips, Christopher Smith, Matt Campbell, Barbara Ann Davidson, Kurt Braunohler, PK Egersheim, Denn Wise.

David, a 15-year-old social misfit, escapes the trials of Boston suburban life to the exotic world of breeding aquarium fish. David and his friends make their way to a Boston Aquarium Society meeting where David finds legitimacy when he shares a tender moment with his secret crush.

** Received the Best Narrative Short at the Hollyshorts Film Festival 2007 and the Best Student Short at the Las Vegas Film Festival 2007.

AVATAR (Spain) directed by Lluis Quilez. With Sebastian Haro, Rosana Pastor, Gerard Villegas.

An intimate portrait of a quadriplegic man and his embittered wife in her newfound role as his caregiver. The strain of his injury on their marriage comes to the ultimate showdown in a sadistic game of life and death.

** Best Short Jury Award at the 2006 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. Screened at the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival and the 2006 Cardiff Film Festival.

BAWKE (Norway) directed by Hisham Zaman. With Broa Rasol, Sedar Ahmad Saleh.

Two Kurdish refugees from Iraq, a father and his son are on the run. With hope for a better life for his son, the father is forced to make a challenging sacrifice to provide for him.

** Received the Best Live Action Short at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, the Best of Festival at the 2006 Palm Springs International Film Festival, the Youth Award at the 2006 San Sebastian Film Festival, the Best Short at the 2007 Tokyo Film Festival.

BENDE SIRA (It's My Turn) (Germany/Turkey) directed by Ismet Ergün. With Semih & Samet Aslan, Mert Metin Ozdemir, Kadir Tezer, Lorin & Tuana Merhard, Coskun Duz and Sadi Somer.

A group of children listen, enchanted, to a friend who has had the good fortune of going to

the cinema and recounts the film to them. Then one day they are all able to go together. Or
almost…

** Received the Silver Leopard Award and the Eastman Kodak Award at the 2007 Locarno International Film Festival.

THE BRASS TEAPOT (USA) directed by Ramaa Mosley. With Traci Dinwiddie, Ben Weber.

When a British housewife and her husband buy a magic antique teapot, they get more than they bargained for.

**World Premiere

HOY NO ESTOY (Argentina) directed by Gustavo Taretto. With Ines Efron, Norma Maldonado, Esmeraldo Mitre, Martin Piroyansky, Fabian Talin.

One day, Martin decides to fade into the urban landscape and completely disappear from view.

**Received the Gold Leopard Award at the 2007 Locarno International Film Festival 2007 and screened at the 2007 Sao Paulo International Film Festival.

I MET THE WALRUS (Canada) directed by Josh Raskin. With Jerry Levitan, John Lennon. Animation.

In 1969, 14-year-old Beatle fanatic Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape deck, snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced him to do an interview. **Received the Spirit Award at the 2007 Brooklyn International Film Festival and the Outstanding Animation Award at the 2007 Winnipeg International Film Festival. Screened at the 2007 LA Shorts Fest.

I WANT TO BE A PILOT (Kenya/Mexico/Spain) directed by Diego Quemada-Diez. With Collins Otieno, Gaudencia Ayuma Shichenga, Kepha Onduru, Joseph Kyalo Kioko.

A poetic visual of the desperation felt by AIDS orphans living in Kenyan slums and their dreams of one day having the opportunity to leave.

**Received the Audience Award for Best Short at the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival, the Best Documentary Short Film at the 2007 Cleveland International Film Festival, the YouthFEST Short Film Award at the 2007 Sarasota Film Festival.

JUANITO BAJO EL NARANJO (Juanito Under the Orange Tree) (Colombia) directed by Juan Carlos Villamizar. With Santiago Sanchez Penuela, Juan Jose Diaz Arango, Juan David Sanchez Penuela, Diego Velez, Martha Leal.

A young boy in Colombia's mountainside, Juanito wants to eat the oranges his father bought for his pregnant mother. Unable to restrain himself, Juanito eats one and buries the peels under the ground. Little does he know that he will awaken with an orange tree growing out of his head.

** Received the Best Short Film at the 2007 Puchon International Film Festival.

KEMO SABE (USA) directed by Rana Kazkaz. With Kyle Agnew, Gabriel Gonzalez, Sebastian Gonzalez, Zachary Gray, Emily Guyumjian, Yasmine Hanani, Garrett Johnson, Armen Kasumyan, Amin Monajjed, Navid Negahban, Jacob Newman

This is a story of Yussef, a six-year-old Arab-American boy who dreams of being the Cowboy instead of the Indian on the playground. Daring to challenge the role his race has determined, Yussef learns the playground rules of becoming a Cowboy.

**Screened at the 2007 Edmonton International Film Festival and the 2007 Chicago Palestine Film Festival.

LIGHTNING DOODLE PROJECT PIKAPIKA (Japan) directed by Takeshi Nagata, Kazue Monno. Animation.

This animation is composed of a collection of long exposure photographs taken in various places all over the world.

**Screened at the 2007 Platform International Animation Festival and the 2006 Ottawa International Animation Festival.

LOOKING GLASS (Sweden) directed by Erik Rosenlund. Animation.

A little girl is home alone watching television when it suddenly turns off. She can see her reflection in the screen, which seems to have a conscience of its own. At the same time someone outside seems to be watching her through the window.

**Screened at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, 2007 S?o Paulo International Film Festival, 2007 Goteberg Film Festival.

THE LUMINARY (Australia) directed by Nicholas Kallincos. Animation.

This is the story of a grieving insect collector. In his search for understanding and love he is pitted against the cyclic nature of things both inside and outside of his reclusive world.

**Screened at the 2006 Seattle International Film Festival, 2006 KROK International Animated Film Festival, 2007 Sao Paulo International Film Festival, 2006 Interfilm Short Film Festival.

MANON ON THE PAVEMENT (France) directed by Elizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont. With Aude Léger, Xavier Boiffier, Bastien Ehouzan, Edouard Raix, Elizabeth Marre, Yves Lecoz, Yasmeen El Masri, Samuel Lahu.

Manon is in a cycling accident and as everyone bustles around her, her thoughts wander to the relationships with the people in her life and what her family, friends and lovers mean to her.

**Screened at the 2007 Namur International Film Festival.

THE PHONE KEEPER (USA) directed by Stine Michelsen. With Damon Younger, Brooke Stone, Jeff Patterson, Juilan Kinsman, Fernando Viso.

Valdemar lives and works in Rodney's answering machine. One day he falls in love with Sophia, a caller who leaves a message on the machine. To save her from certain heartbreak, he sabotages Sophia's date with Rodney.

**Screened at the 2007 Palm Springs Festival of Short Films, 2007 Montana Independent Film Festival.

THE TALE OF HOW (South Africa) directed by Ree Treweek, Marcus Smit. Animation.

This is a voyage through a surreal landscape populated with duck-like creatures being ravaged by a tentacled sea monster, Otto. In the end, a cute, mousey hero named Eddy the Engineer bursts onto the scene to save the day, making for a tidy little narrative that is both strangely familiar and incredibly odd.

**Screened at the 2007 Sarajevo Film Festival, 2007 International Short Film Festival Clermont-Ferrand, and received a Special Distinction at the 2007 Annecy Film Festival.

TANGHI ARGENTINI (Belgium) directed by Guy Thuys. With Wannes Cappelle, Ineke Nijssen, Hile Norga, Mathius Sercu, Dirl van Dijck, Koen van Impe.

Despite the faceless and cold atmosphere at his work place, an office clerk tries to make his colleagues happy. Instead of the cliché Christmas gifts, Andre goes to great lengths to give his colleagues something real and precious in this modern fairy-tale.

**Received the Best Belgian Short at the 2006 Flanders International Film Festival Ghent and the Best Film of the Festival Award at the 2007 La Cittadella Del Corto International Short Film Festival. Screened at the 2007 Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds' career with the Giants ended with a whimper, not a bang, and he essentially went out on his own terms, showing little emotion before or after his farewell.

An announced capacity crowd of 42,926 witnessed the historic occasion Wednesday night, rustling every time he emerged from the dugout, cheering his three at-bats and going home without what they really wanted to see.

Bonds, who homered in his first home game as a Giant 15 seasons ago, couldn't deliver against San Diego Padres ace Jake Peavy and concluded his colorful and controversial run with the club humbled and hitless.

After responding to a standing ovation with a deep fly to right-center in the sixth inning, he was removed from the game, waving to the adoring throng.

Peavy cruised to his 19th victory and the Padres maintained their N.L. wild-card lead with an 11-3 romp, leaving little doubt with a six-run fifth.

True to form, Bonds ordered reporters away when they approached before the game, declaring, "No more interviews, guys -- that way," pointing to the other side of the clubhouse.

But he did offer a snippet of news -- that he would not be playing in the final three games at Dodger Stadium this weekend. He thereby ended his season batting .276 with 28 home runs, 66 RBIs and 132 walks.

Bonds wasn't present for a final postgame chat, either, departing the premises long before the clubhouse doors opened. It was an emotionless group of players, but owner Peter Magowan sniffled as he discussed Bonds' legacy.

"To see it all end is sad," a choked-up Magowan said. "You think back to all the happy times he was able to create, the memories, the excitement, the success we've been able to have.

"It's the end of an era, and it's a sad time for me. I think back (to 1992) when the Giants were headed to Tampa Bay and this was a football town. Barry helped us make it a baseball town again."

With merely one home run in his final 16 games, Bonds finished his season with a career total of 762 as the new "Sultan of Swat." Fans were treated to video screen replays of his most memorable longballs during and after the game.

And there were many among his 586 home runs as a Giant, including a single-season record of 73 in 2001 and those which passed godfather Willie Mays (No. 661) and Babe Ruth (No. 715) and finally Hank Aaron (No. 756) on Aug. 7.

Bonds grounded to first on a full count in the first inning, meekly dribbled to Peavy on the first pitch in the fourth and gave the fans a mini-thrill with his final towering drive.

"We had Freddie (Lewis) on alert from the start, but he (Bonds) didn't want to go out with that second at-bat," manager Bruce Bochy explained. "He just missed it on that third at-bat. When he first hit it, I thought he had enough of it.

"I'm sure it had to be a very difficult day for Barry. He handled it well. He talked to the guys before the game. He played hard, he wanted to go out the right way. But he was in pain."

There was a brief interruption before the start of the sixth inning when a female fan attempted to reach him in left field. She was quickly subdued.

Although Bonds seemed unaffected by the commotion, some teammates suggested it had to be an emotional night for the seven-time MVP.

"I'm sure tonight will be emotional for him -- how can it not be?" asked Rich Aurilia, who has been Bonds' teammate longer than any other Giant.

"When you spend so much time in one place as the best player in the game, I'm sure it's going to affect him when he comes out of the game and when the game's over.

"It's going to be more personal tonight because he's leaving after 15 years."

Added Randy Winn, who grew up watching Bonds as a Danville prep: "It's been 15 years, lots of homers, lots of playoff games and a World Series.

"Of course, it's a nostalgic time for anybody who's been around here."

Bochy confirmed Bonds will not face the Dodgers, mentioning his right toe "hasn't come along quite as well as we had hoped, so this is his last game."

When asked if it could be Bonds' last game, period, Bochy replied: "He wants to play some more, but he may change his mind. It makes you realize what we may be seeing for the last time.

"I hope he's where he wants to be (next year), and that he's happy."

Aurilia summed up the departure of a Giants legend: "Everybody has come to terms with it. I think it's good for both parties to part ways."