Frank Chu
Encyclopedia
Frank Chu is one of San Francisco's best-known eccentrics. His street protests
against US Presidents
, corporation
s, and a distinctive concept he calls the “12 Galaxies” have been held in San Francisco and nearby locales since at least 1995.
Chu lives in Oakland, California
and commutes daily to San Francisco where he can find the largest audience of passers-by and television news crews with whom to share his thoughts. He supports himself through a combination of state aid, sign sponsorships, and small donations from his supporters.
and Montgomery Street
) holding one of his signs, and occasionally supplementing this with spoken remarks on similar themes. He is also known to protest elsewhere, for instance in downtown Oakland
and at the University of California, Berkeley
campus.
Chu will deviate from his usual rounds in the pursuit of a larger audience, and he is frequently seen at street fairs and protests. Although he claims to be a Republican himself, he seems equally at home at protest demonstrations representing all shades of political opinion. Occasionally, people who oppose a protest group will single out Chu as an example of the protest group's incoherent message not realizing that he is not protesting on the same terms as the other protesters in the group.
Although the form of Chu's actions is that of a picket-sign-carrying protester, it is misunderstood if interpreted merely as a protest or picket. He sometimes refers to "a live performance of my protest" rather than simply "my protest".
Chu also likes to appear in the news media, and will try to position himself in view of television news cameras and to offer himself to be interviewed. He pays close attention to the local news media scene and keeps tabs on where he has received good coverage. He will depart from his usual parade ground to attend media-magnet events, for instance the Scott Peterson
trial, the BALCO
grand jury hearings, or the court case deciding on the timing of the California recall election
.
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 called for the impeachment
of Clinton even after Clinton was no longer in office. Bill Clinton, George W. Bush
and current President Barack Obama
are frequently accused by Chu of cooperating with the 12 Galaxies to commit crimes and treasons. 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. He hopes that this wave of publicity will cause a public outcry and lead to the impeachment of various US presidents and the awarding of "$20 billions" in compensation for the damages he and his family have suffered.
The now closed 12 Galaxies bar in San Francisco was named in honor of Chu's cause. Chu has occasionally performed spoken-word on-stage at the 12 Galaxies — his performances have a similar theme to his signs, with riffs off of the twelve galaxies theme and the seemingly abstract use of syllable combinations for poetic effect; to this he adds the use of a percussive "ah" syllable at irregular intervals between words, superficially similar to the "uh" speech disfluency or discourse marker
seen in ordinary conversation but with a more constant tone and duration and a less conversationally natural placement.
A reporter in 2004 noted:
, Rasputin Music
, Chris Daly
's 2006 San Francisco Supervisor campaign, and Phil Angelides
's 2006 California gubernatorial campaign — typically through ad-space purchased on the back of his signs. As of May, 2005, his going rate was $100 (U.S.) per week.
Chu's signs with colorful, all-caps lettering on a black background are instantly recognizable even by those who know nothing else about him. His signs change from day to day, and tend to go through syntactically-similar phases, with the phrase "12 Galaxies" being his trademark and a constant presence in the signs. In June 2007, Chu broke from this tradition and started replacing this with "85 Galaxies", "130 Galaxies", "800 Galaxies", then "1000 Galaxies". At the 2007 Castro Halloween Party, Chu's sign claimed "7,645,000 Galaxies", at MacWorld
2008 he was up to 75,850,000, and at the Iraq War protest on March 19, 2008 he was up to 8,685,000,000.
The earliest of the photos of Chu's signs show his "classic" phase, in which the signs typically read "IMPEACH [figure] 12 Galaxies Guiltied to a [modifier] Rocket Society", where [figure] was typically a living-or-dead former U.S. president, and [modifier] was something along the lines of "Zegnatronic", "Omegalogical", etc. The very earliest examples are handwritten, for instance:
Later versions:
His current signs have replaced "galaxies" with "populations."
Street protester
Street protesting is a form of individual public demonstration, more prevalent in larger cities.Characteristically, street protesters work alone, gravitating towards areas of high foot traffic, and employing handmade placards such as sandwich boards or picket signs in order to maximize exposure and...
against US Presidents
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
s, and a distinctive concept he calls the “12 Galaxies” have been held in San Francisco and nearby locales since at least 1995.
Chu lives in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
and commutes daily to San Francisco where he can find the largest audience of passers-by and television news crews with whom to share his thoughts. He supports himself through a combination of state aid, sign sponsorships, and small donations from his supporters.
Performance/protest technique
Frank Chu protests daily, or nearly daily, typically walking throughout the daytime hours in downtown San Francisco (particularly along Market StreetMarket Street (San Francisco)
Market Street is an important thoroughfare in San Francisco, California. It begins at The Embarcadero in front of the Ferry Building at the northeastern edge of the city and runs southwest through downtown, passing the Civic Center and the Castro District, to the intersection with Corbett Avenue in...
and Montgomery Street
Montgomery Street
Montgomery Street is a north-south thoroughfare in San Francisco, California, in the United States.It runs about 16 blocks from the Telegraph Hill neighborhood south through downtown, terminating at Market Street. South of Columbus Avenue, Montgomery Street runs through the heart of San Francisco's...
) holding one of his signs, and occasionally supplementing this with spoken remarks on similar themes. He is also known to protest elsewhere, for instance in downtown Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
and at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
campus.
Chu will deviate from his usual rounds in the pursuit of a larger audience, and he is frequently seen at street fairs and protests. Although he claims to be a Republican himself, he seems equally at home at protest demonstrations representing all shades of political opinion. Occasionally, people who oppose a protest group will single out Chu as an example of the protest group's incoherent message not realizing that he is not protesting on the same terms as the other protesters in the group.
Although the form of Chu's actions is that of a picket-sign-carrying protester, it is misunderstood if interpreted merely as a protest or picket. He sometimes refers to "a live performance of my protest" rather than simply "my protest".
Chu also likes to appear in the news media, and will try to position himself in view of television news cameras and to offer himself to be interviewed. He pays close attention to the local news media scene and keeps tabs on where he has received good coverage. He will depart from his usual parade ground to attend media-magnet events, for instance the Scott Peterson
Scott Peterson
Scott Lee Peterson , an American, was convicted of murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child in Modesto, California, in 2002. Peterson's arrest and subsequent trial dominated the American news media until 2005, when he was sentenced to death by lethal injection...
trial, the BALCO
Balco
Balco can refer to:* the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative - a controversial sports medicine/nutrition centre in Burlingame, California.* Balco balcony systems who develops, designs and manufactures balcony systems and glazing solutions....
grand jury hearings, or the court case deciding on the timing of the California recall election
California recall election, 2003
The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. The recall effort spanned the latter half of 2003...
.
World view and interests
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
responsible for directing the CIA to withhold payment to him for being the star
Superstar
A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity.Superstar or superstars may also refer to:-People:* Warhol Superstar, associates of Andy Warhol* WWE Superstar, the term used to refer to entertainers from the WWE...
of something called "The Richest Family" during the presidency of George H.W. Bush. His protests frequently called for the impeachment
Impeachment
Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
of Clinton even after Clinton was no longer in office. Bill Clinton, George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and current President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
are frequently accused by Chu of cooperating with the 12 Galaxies to commit crimes and treasons. 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. He hopes that this wave of publicity will cause a public outcry and lead to the impeachment of various US presidents and the awarding of "$20 billions" in compensation for the damages he and his family have suffered.
The now closed 12 Galaxies bar in San Francisco was named in honor of Chu's cause. Chu has occasionally performed spoken-word on-stage at the 12 Galaxies — his performances have a similar theme to his signs, with riffs off of the twelve galaxies theme and the seemingly abstract use of syllable combinations for poetic effect; to this he adds the use of a percussive "ah" syllable at irregular intervals between words, superficially similar to the "uh" speech disfluency or discourse marker
Discourse marker
In linguistics, a discourse marker is a word or phrase that is relatively syntax-independent and does not change the meaning of the sentence, and has a somewhat empty meaning...
seen in ordinary conversation but with a more constant tone and duration and a less conversationally natural placement.
Mental health
One news report from 1985 quoted a police lieutenant as saying that Chu had a history of mental problems and had been prescribed medication.A reporter in 2004 noted:
Sign sponsorships
Chu has been sponsored by the likes of Laughing Squid,Harputs adidas, Learn iT!, Quiznos SubQuiznos Sub
Quiznos is a fast casual restaurant franchise based in Denver, Colorado. The company specializes in offering toasted subs, although they may be served untoasted at the customer's request...
, Rasputin Music
Rasputin Music
Rasputin Music is the largest independent chain of record stores in the extended San Francisco Bay Area, California. They have a cult-like fan base in Northern California and sell many rare albums and videos, as well as new and used CDs, LPs, DVDs, videogames, VHS Videos, Laserdiscs, CED...
, Chris Daly
Chris Daly
Chris Daly is a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He represented District 6, on which he served from 2000 to 2010...
's 2006 San Francisco Supervisor campaign, and Phil Angelides
Phil Angelides
Philip Nicholas "Phil" Angelides is an American politician who was California State Treasurer and the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Governor of California in the 2006 elections...
's 2006 California gubernatorial campaign — typically through ad-space purchased on the back of his signs. As of May, 2005, his going rate was $100 (U.S.) per week.
Sign texts
Macworld
Macworld is a web site and monthly computer magazine dedicated to Apple Macintosh products. It is published by Mac Publishing, which is headquartered in San Francisco, California...
2008 he was up to 75,850,000, and at the Iraq War protest on March 19, 2008 he was up to 8,685,000,000.
The earliest of the photos of Chu's signs show his "classic" phase, in which the signs typically read "IMPEACH [figure] 12 Galaxies Guiltied to a [modifier] Rocket Society", where [figure] was typically a living-or-dead former U.S. president, and [modifier] was something along the lines of "Zegnatronic", "Omegalogical", etc. The very earliest examples are handwritten, for instance:
Later versions:
His current signs have replaced "galaxies" with "populations."
Awards
Frank Chu has received the following awards:- 2000 "Best Protestor" San Francisco Bay GuardianSan Francisco Bay GuardianThe San Francisco Bay Guardian is a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. The paper is owned mostly by its publisher, Bruce B...
. - 2007 "Best Pathological Citizen", SF WeeklySF WeeklySF Weekly is a free alternative weekly newspaper in San Francisco, California. The newspaper, distributed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area every Wednesday, is published by Village Voice Media, a 16-paper alt weekly newspaper chain that also includes the New York City Village Voice and the Los...
.
External links
- Short Documentary About Frank Chu — "Lunch Inside the 12 Galaxies"
- 12 Galaxies, a San Francisco nightclub named in honor of Frank Chu
- Flickr: Frank Chu
- An ongoing photo gallery of Frank Chu at events
- Behind Closed Doors in Washington: Starve.Org Interviews Frank Chu
- Frank Chu's resume
- Frank Chu @ SF Giants Game 2007
- link — a WIPO domain nameDomain nameA domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
dispute concerning the "zegnatronic.com" domain - Ratliff, Evan "Defender of the 12 Galaxies: Life as the city's most dedicated protestor" 7x7 Magazine January, 2002
- "12 Things You Probably Don't Know About Frank Chu" Telstar Logistics 4 December 2006
- Truman Show Delusion (“Reality bites: Patients believe their lives are on TV” Craig Offman National Post)
- Frank Chu @ Chinese New Year parade 2009
- ACME ChuMaker novelty allows one to make their own sign with Chuglish