Those of you taking today off on this unusually warm springtime Friday, we salute/loathe you for being in a state of unadulterated bliss. Wait, scratch the "unadulterated" part. You're probably sipping wine and/or beer and getting lit as your SFist editor types these words from inside SFist headquarters. Even better. Sigh.
7 Reasons Not Be At Work On This Gorgeous Day
Adidas Stages Quirky Fun Run For Commercial Shoot
Neighbors around Divisadero, the Panhandle and Alamo Square got front row seats to a much tamer version of Bay to Breakers today. What looked the city's marquee running/drinking event come six months early was, in fact, a film shoot for a new Adidas commercial with a San Francisco backdrop.
Car Hits Pedestrian at Divis and Fell
Yikes. A man walking across the street at Divisadero and Fell this morning was hit by a car. The incident happened a little after 7 a.m. "The pedestrian's injuries did not appear to be life-threatening," reports SF Appeal. No word yet if the driver was drunk or cooperative. Be careful out there on the streets, folks. [SFA]
Alamo Square Shooting Wounds Man
After 8 p.m. Thursday night in the 800 block of Webster Street, a man was wounded after getting shot inside a home. "The victim, a 32-year-old man, was struck in the right side of his lower back when the gunfire came into the home," reports KTVU. "He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital to be treated for his injuries, which are not considered life-threatening."
Angry Resident Spraypaints Open Letter to Neighbor On Alamo Square House
Oh wow. An angry resident on Alamo Square spraypainted an open letter to a perturbed neighbor on the side of the former's house...
Teen Shot Dead Near Alamo Square Last Night
A little after 11 p.m. last night, two men were shot in the McAllister and Webster area of Alamo Square / Western Addition. A teenage boy, 17-year-old Xavier Gillette, later died at a nearby hospital. The other victim, however, is expected to survive. No arrests have been made. We'll update with more details as we find them.
SFist Blotter
- "Okay, that sure sounded like three gunshots at Alamo Square park, at the northwest corner, around 9:21pm. Anyone concur?"
A Hot Prowler is Better Than No Prowler
Look out, Alamo Square! A "hot prowl" has been reported! We have no idea what that means -- maybe SF Crime knows? -- but oh lord how it makes us giggle. Time to send in the Hot Cops!
SFist Blotter
Even with all the nasty weather, this weekend proved to be yet another violent one in San Francisco. For sure. After five shootings took place within a 24-hour time period, two people lost their lives. Let's go to the rewind, folks:
The Latest Progressive Hope
Man, this dull-as-dishwater mayoral "race" is getting us in the blogging doldrums. Someone do something funny, quick!
Day Around The Bay
--A guy jumped onto the field to say hi to Barry Bonds yesterday. Arrested, drunk. [The Chron photo pool, the Snitch.]
The Stranger Thinks That We Are Awesome
We complain a lot about San Francisco -- you name it, we'll bitch about it, sometimes to the point of distraction. Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to remind us of the good things. Today's kick in the head comes from Jonathan Zwickel at The Stranger's Slog blog, where he writes about his first-ever Bay to Breakers last weekend:
Puppy Love
We want a dog so bad we've taken to following strangers in the street in the hope that they'll stop at the “don’t walk sign” and let us pet Fido. One may wonder why we haven't run to the shelter to adopt one yet. The official reason we give the weary stranger towering over us while we crouch down to scratch his pit bull’s head is that our landlord doesn't allow pets. But truth be told, our common sense buckles at the idea of having to walk a hyperactive mutt called Schnitzel at 4AM when we just barely managed to crawl back home from the Orbit Room. Fortunately there is a heaven for lazy dog lovers and it is called Alamo Square.
Recycling Your Christmas Tree
For those of you who celebrated your winter holiday of choice with an elaborately-festooned evergreen tree: no matter what your religion or creed, we're all united in the same post-holiday question -- how do we get rid of it now?
Is Green A Verb?
As we discussed earlier today, PG&E and ReadyMade magazine are co-sponsoring "Let's Green This City," which is aiming to raise environmental consciousness by putting sofas covered with grass around the city. Sure, why not? (Will Ross Mirkarimi be involved? And what's the Bay Guardian's public power-oriented stance on this?)
How to Get the Guy: Third, Hammer Him With Questions
We sure hope tonight's episode of "How to Get the Guy," which airs at 10 p.m. on ABC, is better than last week's because, maaaan. That was some boring TV. Don't believe us? Well, read on pumpkin!
SFist Answers: Things To Make You Cry
Welcome, readers, to an all-too-rare edition of SFist Answers, where we pretend to know stuff. Today's theme: crying. Let's make people cry. Fun!
Wednesdays, The New Wednesdays
Fill in your Wednesday so that every row, column, and 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9! Tonight: Local author ZZ Packer will be reading from her acclaimed short story collection, Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, at the SF Main Public Library. 6:30, in the lower level auditorium. After the reading, go hear another set of interconnected tales at the Make-Out Room as the band Deliver Me From Nowhere covers Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, in track order. That show starts at 9.
Thursday: Has anyone else seen this Dance Dance Revolution-type game where instead of dancing, you drum? Help us try and remember the name of that game as you attend the SF Conservatory of Music percussion department student recitals! Student Jamie Drake is performing for free at 8 pm in Hellman Hall (19th Street and Ortega).
and Friday: It's the Exploratorium's opening night event for its show "Reconsidered Materials," and Elizabeth Hickok will be displaying her awesome San Francisco in Jello (tm), for one night only. Hickok makes a scale model of city scenes, then casts the buildings in gelatin, and then paints and lights it up. (See above.) The gelatin then falls apart. Event starts at 7.
Picture of Alamo Square from LizHickok.com
Game, Set And Match
We happened to be walking past Alamo Square Park yesterday, and remembered that nestled in the trees at the crest of the hill, overlooking a perfect San Francisco skyline, is what we are declaring the most beautiful tennis court in the world. Sure, maybe Andre and Steffi have something overlooking the bay up in Marin, but the fact that anyone with some sneakers and a racket can play here for the cost of a can of fresh balls at Walgreens is what puts it over the top.
SFist Blotter
You know how on Murder She Wrote, you were always like, why does anyone ever invite Jessica Fletcher anywhere, because someone always gets murdered when she's around? Well, Jessica Fletcher must be in San Francisco, because there's been four separate murders this week. On Thursday, two people were killed in the Alamo Square area (one at McAllister and Lyon, and another at Eddy and Scott), and over the weekend, two people were killed in the Potrero Hill area (one at 20th and Tennessee, another at 22nd and Vermont).
In our own Casuistry incident, three teens in Pleasanton have been arrested for murdering a cat and hanging its body from a noose over a train trestle for passersby to see. Who comes up with ideas like this?
And Oakland's going with humili-tainment as its latest get-tough-on-prostitution tactic. The Oakland PD will be installing cameras in areas known for prostitution and johns who are arrested for solicitation may have their pictures put up on billboards and bus stops. Dang! Adding insult to injury, they'll also take your car ("Come to Oakland in a Porsche, leave on AC Transit"), so there's that additional risk of waiting for a bus stop that has your picture on it. Oakland's not messing around.
Ready For Our Close Up
Watching last night's premiere of "Lost" (by the way, that show kicks total a**) brought back fond memories of Lost star Matthew Fox's previous show, "Party of Five." While SFist isn't necessarily fond of that kind of show, we watched this series regularly in our shared Fulton Street apartment. We got specific pleasure out of the fact that it was supposed to take place here in San Francisco, but, other than an occasional establishing shot, it was so obviously shot in LA.

