What with all of the Dedes, Newsoms, Nessies, and guilty white trustifarians using "gentrification!" as both a battle cry AND a lifestyle, it should come as no surprise to you that San Francisco crazy-ass rich. At least according to the California Franchise Tax board's recently released annual report, we are. ...

Oh, and here are some tips from the NERT (National Neighborhood Emergency Response Team), care of Ed Chu of the San Francisco Fire department. It's not the most entertaining bit of footage you'll see this year, but could be the most important. (Quick quiz: how many gallons of water per person is recommended for the 72 hour period after an earthquake? Five!) Also, for more in-depth earthquake safety info, SFGTV2 (channel 78) is running......

Here's what we've missed in the world of Bay Area sports while trying to figure out who the Oceanic 6 are......

The Library Tower (AKA the U.S. Bank Tower) in Los Angeles could soon be the second tallest building west of the Mississippi thanks to San Francisco's proposed Transbay Terminal. While the Library Tower, located in downtown Los Angeles, stands at an alluring 1,018-feet tall, the Transbay Terminal is primed to win the measuring contest at 1,200-feet. You know, we're just saying. Not to brag or anything. Anyway, our tallest skyscrapers so far are as......

Caught on tape: drunk Dolores Park guy...stealing our heart. [SFBG]Cyclist deaths on rise. [Left in SF]Bay Area nurses prepare to stage a 10-day walkout. [SJ Merc]Uncultured Yelpers love $1 bag of anything. [Eater] SXSW "Valleywag]Have you been featured on Muni hot or not of the now? Well, have you? [Nature abhors a vacuum]......

In case you missed The Daily Show last night-- not that any member of the self-respecting Bay Area intelligentsia would dare to admit missing a second of sparkling political satire -- check out Berkeley and its Marine corps nonsense getting skewered last night care of Jon Stewart's clan. It's chock full of funny. (Except the overt and cruel hippie-hating part, which we find not only a played out but a bit dangerous; there's nothing......

Although last week's test on the American tap water by chemists claims to have detected the sex hormone estradiol -- found such vertebrate animals as birds, reptiles, and fish -- a more recent test conducted by the American Waterworks Association Research Foundation, says that San Francisco's "best tasting" H20 has come up sparkling clean. The Gate reports that our tap water, which is really quite tasty compared to, say, the waters of Southern California......

A small protest was held at City Hall yesterday by 400-plus pissed off Tibetan immigrants, honoring the 49th anniversary of Tibet's uprising against China, but also San Francisco's hosting of the Olympic torch. Just a preface of what will happen in the city next month, San Francisco will be the focus of a major protest since it's the only US city hosting the Olympic torch relay in the 2008 Beijing games. According to CBS......

Alas, it was not a good weekend for cyclists of the Bay Area. The sheriff's deputy that accidentally crashed into three cyclists in Cupertinio over the weekend -- a collision that killed Olympic hopeful 31-year-old Kristy Gough of Oakland (the third-fastest, non-professional women's triathlete in the world); and 30-year-old Matt Peterson of San Francisco -- has been identified as 27-year-old James Council. A deputy at the West Valley Patrol Division of Santa Clara County,......

DISCUSSION/THEATER: Before Michael Bennett and Bob Fosse rose to fame with shocking original choreography, directorial genius, and having a penchent for abusing dancers, we had Jerome Robbins. The mastermind of steps behind such famous works as Gypsy, West Side Story, and Fiddler on the Roof, just to name a few, will be discussed in length tonight at "Words on Dance Celebrates the Life and Career of Jerome Robbins." The panel discussion will be hosted......

Due to the popularity of Portland's Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls, (and just in time for the national release of Girls Rock! The Movie this spring) girls' rock camps are now sprouting up all over the country, including one opening in the Bay Area this summer! The Bay Area Girls Rock Camp will serve 25–40 girls between the ages of 8 and 18 and will take place at Julia Morgan School for Girls in......

Saturday night we had the pleasure to watch one of Noise Pop's most intriguing local acts: Wallpaper. We interviewed Eric Frederic - the man behind it all - earlier in the week and had even listened to his new EP, T REX on his MySpace page but we had no idea it was going to be that much fun. We were on such a high from Wallpaper's set that we didn't want to ruin it......

Bay Area filmmakers Arne Johnson and Shane King present Girls Rock! The Movie, a highly moving documentary about Portland's Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls, a place for girls ages eight to eighteen to learn an instrument, form their own bands, write songs, make friends, and then perform in front of 700 people -- all in a week's time. The film is opening in seven cities today -- San Francisco, Berkeley, Portland, New York,......

Forbes annual list of billionaires around the world came out today. Jealous? And for the first time in 14 years Warren Buffett (at $62 billion) snatched the number one spot from Bill Gates (who came in at a dismal $58 billion.) This post was created using Explorer, not Firefox, in condolence. But who, you ask, took the top spots for the Bay Area? Well, Oracle founder Larry Ellison (coming in at #14 with $25......

Lev Yilmaz, SFist's resident cartoonist will be doing an interview on Wednesday, March 5th at 4 p.m. PST. This will be on KUSF 90.3 in San Francisco. If you are not in the Bay Area, you can listen via iTunes: Radio: Public: KUSF or online at kusf.org (and you can download the player under "listen now.")......

Politically-correct, conservative KSFO talk show host Melanie Morgan annonced yesterday that her contract would not be renewed due to financial issues over at KSFO's corporate parent, Citadel Broadcasting Corp. Co-host of the Lee Rodgers & Melanie Morgan Show, Morgan is somewhat (in)famous for jump starting the Gov. Gray Davis recall, which has since left us with Gov. Schwarzenegger; and calling for the rape, murder, hair-pulling, and vivisection of New York Times editor Bill Keller.......

Check out the anti-gay truck motoring around town today. Isn't it adorable? Fortunately for it, it lacks any "anti-oak tree" or "pro-Marine recruitment" signage, which would've really pissed off locals Bay Area do-gooders. Surprisingly, these anti-gay marriage folks are probably going to win regarding the state's decision as to who is and who isn't a human being allowed to marry. Why is this debate still going on? It's a waste of time, money, energy,......

Good news: Translink will be up and running on Muni in the late fall/early winter of 2007. Or at least, that's what Muni said last year, and surprise! It's still not working. (And before that, it was January of 2007.) Translink is the work of a company called ERG, Ltd (emphasis on the "limited"); and in the decades (decades!) that it's been bandied about, lots of other cities have managed to set up Translinks......

Ooooh!!! You know we love the Asian-American Film Festival! We love the feature films by the young ambitious Asian-American directors, we love Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, we love the KQED-ready documentaries about identity and history, we love the beautifully shot foreign films, and we loooooooooove Music Video Asia! MAN, do we love Music Video Asia. (Plus -- a sing-along Colma The Musical!) The film festival starts in two weeks and runs......

Your weekend just got a little sleepier. Ten locations, including two in San Francisco, were busted today in connection with a methamphetamine distribution setup that went from San Francisco and the Bay Area all the way to Mexico. Federal, state, and local law enforcement. In total 13 people were arrested. According to KGO: The raids started simultaneously at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning with 200 agents moving in on the ten locations. Law enforcement was......

*FILM: She Done Him Wrong (1933) screens at the Castro Tonight. What's is about? Well, according to CinemaSource, "Lady Lou works as a singer at the Gay Nineties saloon of Gus Jordan, who plays her with diamonds to keep her by his side. She runs afoul of stalwart Salvation Army captain Cummings, who warns her that she''s on the road to perdition. Though Lou herself steers clear of criminal activities, Gus Jordan runs a......

We found ourselves asking ourselves lots of questions when we decided to post this piece of urban art that SFist reader Mike found on the corner of Sutter and Larkin last week. We were like, is this not suitable for work? It's just graffiti, and it looks just like all the beautiful vagina clichés that are cliché for a reason. It's like a lovely clam, or a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, or a head......

Sure, these places look like the types of fine dining establishments none of us could afford. Nevertheless we were delighted to read in this morning's New York Times ("Coast to Coast, Restaurants That Count") that San Francisco's Coi and Napa Valley's Ubuntu (a critically-acclaimed restaurant that also doubles as a yoga studio, oh my God) made Frank Bruni's top ten restaurants in the country. Yay us! Regarding Ubuntu, Bruni says: What kind of Kumbaya......

Are you exceptional in the visual, performing, film/video/media, literary, or fashion arts? Yes? Well, then, SF Weekly is giving away $2,500 with their Masterminds program to someone like you. Why? Who knows, exactly. But that's a lot of money, kids. (Do you know how long it takes to amass that much cash by swiping and selling new releases at Aardvarks? About four and a half years, more or less.) Behold: Masterminds™ is a program......

Oh dear. A hefty-sized earthquake hit northeastern Nevada this morning. You know what that means, don't you? Time to sound the alarm for everyone in the Bay Area to get prepared. Not sure what to do? Well then, check out the following info: For more safety information about emergency on tips surviving an earthquake, here are some handy do's & don'ts.For free training in disaster and emergency response, visit NERT -- Neighborhood Emergency Response TeamFor......

Somehow this news story managed to slip past our radar last week, but the Gate published a story on how our wonderful state of California will be spraying the Bay Area with pesticides this summer. In an effort to eliminate the light brown apple moth (aww. Aren't they so cute?), an insect potentially disastrous for farming in California, the state agricultural department will be spraying an insecticide known as Checkmate over urban areas, according to......

FILM: SF Indiefest wraps up tonight with Ben X, 7:15 p.m., and Paranormal Activity, 9:30 p.m., at the Roxie Cinema. For more info, go here. *MUSIC: We love the the Donnas. Seriously. Not only are they ever so much fun, but they're from the Bay Area and brimming with hot young(ish) girls playing guitar. The kind of girls with whom you want to go shopping and talk about boys, but also who you want......

We admit having never seen that word before: sackbut. It sounds full of promise, definitely. Turns out it's a medieval trombone, and it will be heard this coming weekend at a few choice concerts. ...

SFist reader Mai sent us this precious find that she found last Friday at 22nd and Valencia. Below is Mai's transcription, about which she said, "I tried to stay as true to the capitalization as I could." Thanks, Mai! Sappenin' sammy! yo dude! I just officialy met you this year but you've been a pretty cool dude, ese! ITS A GOOD THING you DONT JUDGE People OR eLse U'D THiNK IM a CRack Head... YeaH.........

LIT: Launch party for Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser's newest release, Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure, which is, well, just as it sounds: six-word memoirs penned by famous and not-so-famous writers. Happens at the Rockit Room tonight. *CLUB: You know who knows how to party? Service industry workers. From chefs to bartenders to waiters to barbacks, you will find a group no finer than these people......