The airtight smiles. Awesome. For those of you somehow not tempted into becoming a part of Van Santian art -- or, you know, if you sport a vagina -- might we suggest catching round II of the Leno vs. Migden smackdown? Sponsored by the Harvey Milk Club, this meeting is sure to ruffle a few plumes and have local politicos affectedly scratching their chins for days to come. That's right, kids, it's on. It is......

-- Emmy-winner Al Gore might also win the Nobel Peace Prize. Weren't Bono and Princess Diana supposed to win that at some point, too? (You know, before she...vroom.) [Wired News] -- Bay Area Reporter endorses Newsom. Shocking. [BAR] -- Double shooting in East Oakland. [CBS5] -- 16-year-old Angel Carrion busted out of juvenile detention center. Because he's bad. Real bad. And probably dating your daughter. [Examiner] -- Infant cold sniffle medicine yanked off store......

God bless the Bay Area Reporter. In this week's issue, Ed Walsh reports that former JonBenet Ramsey murder suspect and one-time possible kiddie porn connoisseur, John Mark Karr, "had sought gender reassignment surgery, not because of any driving desire to become a woman, but to help him avoid capture by police." That seems a bit drastic if you're not actually a woman inside, yes? Fascinating, but drastic. In lieu of Anne Frank-esque hiding or......

You know you've made it in San Francisco as a marginalized group when you start getting in fights with other marginalized groups -- so a local bisexual advocacy/social group is under fire for their policies excluding certain transgender persons. Namely, the Chasing Amy Social Club (which you may remember from Gay Pride this year, complaining about the lack of bi visibility at the Pride Parade) has gotten called out by local literary doyenne and transgender......

-- Are you ready for the genius that is Peaches Christ and her Midnight Mass cult-film series? [Bay Area Reporter] -- Television -- glorious, warm, loving television! -- on BART cars? Hmm. [Inside Bay Area, Oakland Tribune] -- Matt Stroud takes a brief, much-needed break from his Rocky-like boxing bootcamp training. [The Snitch] -- Affordable housing advocates get pinched by the fuzz. Remember, purveyors of justice: don't drop the soap! [Fog City Journal] --......

--Local photog Thomas Hawk gets assaulted for taking pictures -- again. [Thomas Hawk's Digital Connection, via the SFist tips line. update: From last year! Sorry! Keep those tips fresh, folks!] --C.W. Nevius didn't start the fire. [The Chron.] --Republicans busted by SF State for stomping on Muslim flags with the word "Allah" written on them are now suing. Oh, that's rich. [CBS 5.] --You thought Ed Jew Borderline was awesome? If that was Madonna,......

--Hey! Did you ever do coke with Gavin? [Fog City Journal.] --Chris Daly explains himself. [SFGov.org.] --What's fun doing for Pride Weekend? [SFPartyParty, Bay Area Reporter, SF Weekly's All Shook Down.] --They busted JT Leroy. [Chron, via the AP.] --No more bottled water for the City and County of SF. [CBS 5.] --That local kid who tried to blow up the UC Riverside graduation? It was so he wouldn't have to tell his mom......

"He is like a cross between Liberace and Hello Kitty. He is out of his gourd." - Bevan Dufty describing Han Shin (aka Purple Gloves) to the Bay Area Reporter....

Cannoli, anyone?" Photo of Aaron Peskin in a speedo from San Francisco Magazine, via the Bay Area Reporter By SFist Elaine......

As promised -- when we find people defending Newsom, we diligently write 'em up in the column we call.... Who's Defending Newsom Now! Who's swinging for the mayor? --The mayor himself!: Before heading out to Switzerland this week, Gavin sat down with the gay-focused Bay Area Reporter (picture features a blue tie) for a chat about what's going on with him. Beyond the now-standard complaint that the Chronicle is out to get him, Gavin also......

Man, we are starting to get a headache trying to stay on top of the convoluted machinations of the San Francisco 2008 State Senate race. You may remember that current State Assembly rep Mark Leno floated a trial balloon to run in two years for the seat currently held by his former friend Carole Migden. After pooh-poohing the rumor, Migden then promptly started floating trial balloons of her own that she might run against Gavin......

It's a slight variation on our Who's Attacking/Defending Newsom Now columns -- Gavin goes on the offensive! The gay-focused Bay Area Reporter runs a column this week in their Political Notebook about the post-Halloween fallout between Gavin and new father District 8 Supervisor Bevan Dufty. Apparently the wounds from Gavin's attack on Bevan about the Castro Halloween shooting and his vote to override the veto on the foot patrol issue are still smarting, as......

--Why's Lawrence Wong getting in so much trouble for accidentally crossing a picket line when the Bay Area Reporter did too? --The Stanford Band frets about its future. --The SF hip-hop dancer (Allan) from the first season of So You Think You Can Dance supports Krissy Keefer. --Maggie Lynch compares MUNI to Lemony Snicket. --Skip school, go to jail. --More cops in North Beach. Why aren't there more cops in the Western Addition? --Pat Murphy......

Congratulations, Supervisor Bevan Dufty and Rebecca Goldfader! They're expecting a baby in October. "Wait a minute!" you say. "Isn't Dufty gay?" And those of you who go to the Menlo Clinic or take her pilates classes might also be thinking, "And isn't Rebecca a lesbian?" Well, sure -- Dufty and Goldfader are what the Bay Area Reporter calls an "opposite-sex gay couple," who've committed to a relationship where they both date other people (though neither of them is seeing anyone right now) but will rely on each other for support and to raise their child. The whole thing sounds vaguely sitcommy -- Goldfader and Dufty met at the Gold's Gym, where both of them were taking step aerobics classes. (Grapevine!) They've been trying since 2004, when they hired a gay male midwife to do the inseminations, and both of them giggle about the tremendous effort Dufty was putting in to get his sperm samples. "Sometimes he would come out of the bathroom sweating!" They're thinking about getting a duplex and live on separate floors -- but Dufty has to make sure any house they buy is in District 8 (the famously expensive Castro and Noe Valley district) so he can run for reelection in November. We can't wait for the wacky episode where the babysitter Goldfader hires turns out to be an ex- of Dufty's, culminating in some kind of pratfall at the Board of Supervisors meeting that night. The proud papa to your right....

Last week's winner, the East Bay Express: Bottom Feeder asks a good question, which is: why did Sports Illustrated run an excerpt of the Barry Bonds book and not the Chron? He doesn't say, but we're going to guess money. In a separate story, the value of Bonds baseball cards has dropped. Hey, EBX, shouldn't you be focusing on your own baseball team instead of SF's? Cover article: E (aka, "thizz") stops being a raver......