Laughing Squid broke the news that game designer Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons (1974)/co-founder of Tactical Studies Rules, died today at the ripe age of 69. According to LS, his death was announced on the Troll Lord Games forum. Steve (AKA the High Lord, Coburg the Undying, he who sits on the elephants back of the Castle and Crusade Society) had this to say on the forums: It is almost too much......

The last time we saw Sandra Bernhard, which was at Bimbo's earlier this year, we almost walked into her as we were leaving the ladies room and she was making her entrance from the back of the theater, crooning "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going." After a stagehand or security guy or au pair grabbed and shook the holy hell out of us, preventing us from colliding with Ms. Sandra, we went......

The Busan is free to leave....

The rock et roll pioneer and hardcore curmudgeon died today in San Marcos, San Diego. He made a name for himself when he discovered a young Tina Turner, and the rest is Academy Award-nominated history. Toward the end of his life, he was remorseful about his treatment of Tina. "I know what I am in my heart. And I know regardless of what I've done, good and bad, it took it all to make me what I am today." We hear you, Ike. We hear you....

Today, we really enjoyed an interview of Chronicle Executive Editor Phil Bronstein by Julie Haire, an L.A.-based freelance writer, that was published on MediaBistro. And, yes, we confess, part of that enjoyment was due to multiple references to SFist....

-- Dreamgirls: Jennifer Hudson's performance as Effie White won her an Academy Award, and her end of Act I nervous breakdown ("And I Am Telling You") blew audiences to the back wall of the theatre. . She is the reason to see this movie. It also features Anika Noni Rose, a former A.C.T. student. Check out this musical loosely based on the rise of the Supremes tonight at 7 p.m. at the Castro Theatre,......

Photo of Dan Carbone and friend, by Mike Kuchar Why? Because the stuffed-animal slinging, falsetto-singing, universe-weaving, Dada-referencing, Bay Area playwright and theater artist (and good friend and muse of seminal filmmaker George Kuchar) is all that -- and he's just been nominated for a New York Innovative Theater Award (being announced at a party in NYC tonight) for his 2006 Off-Off Broadway production of Kingdom of Not. Savvy Fringe Festival regulars may recall that this......

To Little Miss Golden Gate Park, princess of the City,

Honey, I'm sick of you and your flat-ass panhandle getting all the attention. You think you're the only park in the whole City of San Francisco? Well listen up greenbeard, 'cause it's time somebody showed you the real San Francisco.

You know that sparkling brilliance that lights up the night sky south of Chavez? That's me GG, and my name is Miss McLaren Park -- Lady McLaren if you're nasty.

-And I don't understand why I sleep all day/And I start to complain that there's no rain ...

It's the annual Best Of post, the one post in the year where I get to use the first person singular! Hooray! From the Starbucks (not really a) bomber in January to the opening of the Daiso in December, it was certainly one heck of a year, wasn't it? There was BUSH TER DOWN; the Chron's series about police brutality getting upstaged by their misidentification of the cop in question; Kimberly Guilfoyle's new boyfriend,......

SFist interviews Emmett Malloy, owner of Brushfire Records...

There sure are a lot of fans of The Decemberists, judging by the fact that they're about to play tonight and Friday night here at the relatively giant Warfield Theater. If you haven't heard their new album The Crane Wife, we're giving you a chance to win a copy of it plus a 20"x10" lithograph signed by all 5 members of the band. We'd show you a photo of the lithograph if we had one,......

The District 6 supervisor race just keeps heating up! This week's episode: Everybody Hates Diet Coke. Incumbent Chris Daly was just endorsed by the San Francisco firefighters' union. We can't wait for the picture of Chris wearing a firefighter's hat and carrying a ladder! BUT -- when the head of the Police Officers' Association, Gary Delagnes, heard the news, he hit the roof. He promptly fired off a note to the firefighters' union, reminding them......

The battle over lap dances in strip clubs moved to the Entertainment Commission last Friday as they held an often contentious, standing-room-only hearing on the issue. During the meeting, strippers, err "exotic dancers," testified in front of the commission to say that the proposed new rules, that calling for the ending of private rooms and booths and it's possible ending of lap dancing, could impede their ability to make money. In our minds, the testimony was given like something out of "Hot for Teacher" in which the moment the dancer got up to the podium, they tore their clothes off to reveal slinky lingerie underneath, but we have a feeling things didn't happen that way (BTW, while searching for the "Hot For Teacher" clip we also stumbled upon a bootleg video of VH doing it live in an outdoor concert in 1984 and it is awesome). Oh well. Also testifying in support of the legislation were local Bay Area rappers who claimed that no more lap dances in strip clubs would hurt their ability to "be gangsta." ...

Our pals at Shanghaiist tipped us of to David Friedman's blog, Ironic Sans. We already had an internet crush on David from his site on GameBoy camera photography (a not so secret obsession of ours), but we didn't know about his blog until we saw http://www.ironicsans.com/2006/07/a_parallel_istaverse.html">this awesome post. So I got to thinking. What if the “istaverse” people existed in fictional cities? I’m sure they would write about the new Starbucks being built in that......

" class="imgright" src="http://www.sfist.com/attachments/sfist_matt/ladylistens-thumb.jpg" width="200" height="312" />Submissions go to yvesdroppings - at - gmail - dot - com. Lesbian visiting from out of town: "I was going to try to kiss 38 women for my 38th birthday, but decided it would be too exhausting ... kissing takes time." -- From David/At Askew in the Castro Girl 1: "I don't give a f**k, as long as it's got cheese all over it." Girl 2: "....." --......

Yes, we know that technically it should be "to what Yvesdroppings refer." Whatever. Submissions go to yvesdroppings - at - gmail - dot - com. Girl on Phone: "He wants to move to Iraq and work as a security guard! He said he could make, like, a hundred K. And I was like, it would be better to stay in San Francisco and be a hooker." (Pause.) "I don't know how much they make. I......

A very enthusiastic "HER MOTHER AND I DO!" of support to the genius tipster who passed along the Exclusive Details about the impending Kimberly Guilfoyle-Eric Villency (hereinafter, "the Guilfency") Memorial Day nuptials in Barbados, from Fashion Week Daily! Eric proposed with a 5.2 carat Asscher-cut diamond (huh huh, you said "ass"), which, for those of you in the know, is exactly the same size and shape as Kate Hudson's. Ooh, goody! The big day is......

Finally! Some cold weather! We've pouted over this winter's heat, which has prevented us from cooking our favorite seasonal dishes. High up on the list of foods we would've made? Beans. Just imagine: Slow-cooked onions, beans, maybe a bit of bay leaf for an aromatic component, maybe a bit of salt pork or bacon for a rich meatiness? Is there anything more soul-filling? (Yes, we know about bean salad, but that's not what we're......

"I want to put the awe back in superhero movies," says filmmaker Michael Sparaga, "The characters have sort of become blasé about what they could do, as well as the people watching them." His movie, Sidekick, screens as part of SF Indiefest on Thursday and Saturday at 4:30pm at The Roxie, has no shortage of awe: mild-mannered comic enthusiast Norman is bowled over to discover a coworker with superpowers. As a sidekick, Norman loyally......

Dear Political Junkie: I'm a very attractive woman with a great job in New York and lots of dating prospects. The problem is my ex. I mean, he said it was over and I should just go and live my life. But I know he wants me back. I just know it! I mean, we didn't even really ever break up -- he has some really mean friends at the office who never liked me (they were totally jealous of me), and if I could just get him away from them, I know everything would be perfect again. I mean, he passed all these laws about pit bulls, just so he could get me back in town. And he took me out to dinner and drinks and we had so much fun! And I flew out for his birthday! He was so happy to see me! And when he needs someone by his side for big social occasions, guess who he calls? How do I get rid of all the people trying to keep us apart? Signed, Your Biggest Fan. Our answer after the jump!...

Boy: "My mom taught me how to use a sewing machine when I was a kid. And I made lots of bags and pillows. They're pretty much the same thing. Except one has an open end and a handle." -- From Erik in Union Square Scene: An elderly couple has just taken a parking spot that a middle-aged woman wanted. As they get out of their car, she shrieks at them. Lady: "KARMA is......

Today's victim of the SFist interview has only been in our fair city for a couple of weeks, but that doesn'r mean we're going to take it easy on him! His new book, Alcoholica Esoterica, is a easily-digestible and very, very funny history of booze and drinking, and it comes out tomorrow! We here at SFist welcome Ian to San Francisco and eagerly anticipate the day he ventures out of his living room and......

SFist interviews artist Jill Bliss, founder of blissen.com...

WonderCon was almost too much for we little nerds to handle. Look! It's Robot Monster! And over there! Spider-Man! And there's a storm trooper! And look--another storm trooper! And another! And enough with the storm troopers already, sheesh! The first program we took in was a talk with some some guys who worked on the special effects for the Spielberg-directed War of the Worlds. The host promised the audience that they were a privileged......

SFist celebrated a birthday yesterday and was unable to post. Apologies. But the little gap in posting also gave us time to think some about the current state of television, and the conclusion we came to? We need more "Whodunnit?" "He dunnit!" "Howdya know he dunnit?" "'Cause I'm super-smart, that's how!" shows. Actually, it wasn't us who came to that conclusion, it was the networks. How else can you explain the plethora of shows......

At first we were stunned by the fact that Mick LaSalle got something right, because he gives a glowing review to our Big Budget pick of the week, Assault on Precinct 13. Then, we read on: "Assault on Precinct 13" has the feel, the look and the energy of a really strong crime thriller from the 1970s. This is easy to say, as it's a remake of a 1976 John Carpenter film of the same......

Invaded Country: Iraq. I'm not saying that it's going to be another Ira_ country in 2005 but I wouldn't die of shock if we start talking about pre-emptive strikes against nuclear capacities either. Sigh. Hot (Hiltonian "That's Hot", not climatologically. Because... you know...) Country: Canada. I hope it remains hot in 2005 because that passport about the only cred I've got these days. Political Hanger-on/deadweight: Michael Moore. You want to love him, you really......