We mentioned last week that a film crew was in town shooting at a former train depot in the Richmond? The movie's Big Sur, based on the autobiographical novel by Jack Kerouac about his waning days as an already famous alcoholic writer, and Haighteration snapped some pics of the shoot they were doing this week in the Lower Haight, involving several vintage automobiles and one Kate Bosworth. Also, seated next to her in one photo, is a gentleman who we do not believe is Patrick Fischler -- he was the only cast member listed last week on the IMDB page for the film, and we're pretty sure he's playing Allen Ginsberg. Now, though, we see a whole cast fleshed out with Anthony Edwards as Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Josh Lucas as Neal Cassady, and Balthazar Getty as Michael McClure. more ›

Filmmaker Michael Polish (North Fork, Twin Falls Idaho) is shooting a scene from an upcoming film about Jack Kerouac today at Fulton and 7th Avenue, at a historic train terminal that's going to be a stand-in for a 1950s bus depot. RichmondSF got the word, and IMDB has the deets on the film, titled Big Sur after Kerouac's famous memoir of his own attempt to dry out in Big Sur and cope with his own alcoholism and growing fame. more ›

Around 40 miles of Highway 1 are cut off this morning after last night's storm caused a landslide and mudslide near Big Sur. "The latest rockslide happened yesterday (Thursday) near Limekiln State Park. Caltrans crews were trying to clear the slide, when a large boulder careened into a front-end loader. The slide now blocks Big Sur's access to Highway 46," reports NBC Bay Area. "Highway 46 was the only way to get to the community, after a slide last week crumbled a section of Highway 1 north of Big Sur. That section is not expected to open until next month." [NBC] more ›

Turn that frown upside-down bourgeois staycationers (oy, that word). While Big Sur sears until it's golden brown, the coastal town has turned into somewhat of a ghost town. And now, according to 71Miles' John Vlahides, some of the area's nicest hotels and R&R spots have lower their prices to rates that signify clinical insanity. Check it: more ›

Folks in Big Sur have been asked told to evacuate due to the uncontrollable wildfire still roaring through the Basin Complex. The mandatory evacuation will go into effect at 5 p.m. today. In addition to staying safe from the blaze, firefighters need residents out in order to perform "burning operations" in the area. Citizens in the Palo Colorado Canyon in Monterey have have been told to scram as well. But on the brighter side, the air quality in SF is much, much better. Not a hint of smoke in the air. Ahhh. more ›

Who doesn't love a weekend jaunt to Carmel? Well, those of us who can afford it, anyway. What's more, those of us who can tolerate its cloying horror. more ›

Scenic shots bore us, and Ansel Adams' stuff gives us the heebie-jeebies. But we just came across this clever coastline shot -- titled "where the surf meets the sky" -- taken by colour40 near Big Sur, beautiful Big Sur. more ›

Snoo-zer. Aside from the final five seconds of the race, the most exciting part of Thursday's Stage 4 in the 2007 Amgen Tour of California was the scenery. Relatively undistinguished topography and the desire of most riders to save themselves for tomorrow's critical individual time trial turned yesterday's stage into little more than a placeholder in the week-long tour.

It was a day of defensive rest, with everybody working extra hard to do the least amount necessary to maintain the status quo and playing it as safe as possible while doing so.

There was some nominal bad weather to keep the racers on their toes, a lukewarm breakaway led by Hilton Clarke of the Navigators Insurance team, a minimal response from Discovery Channel and the peloton, and a rather pedestrian, if not historic, sprint finish capped by Paolo "the Cricket" Bettini's (Quick Step-Innergetic) technically brilliant track throw to nip Gerald Coilek (T-Mobile) at the tape. Other than that, we loved it, thanks for asking.

. Boooo!). It's actually a pretty decent article about the future of the Chron online, the criminal lack of mentioning of Eve notwithstanding. Book section. Meredith Brody tries out Top Chef entrees around town. SFist Ced is outraged that she would review a TGI Friday's when there's no TGI Friday's in the City. Wasn't there a TGI Friday's in Fisherman's Wharf? What happened to that one? The (((folkYEAH!))) festival in Big Sur. Doc's Clock, everyone's second-choice hipster bar. And Dan Savage ate too much pot pumpkin cake. more ›

A suspected gang member is in custody after shooting dead an East Palo Alto cop who was responding to a call about a disturbance at a taqueria. The cop had an Explorer Scout in his car on an officer ride-along when he was killed. The Explorer Scout, who was not injured, immediately called in for help and gave a detailed description of the killer. It's like the opposite of the lady who faked running the Boston Marathon -- a bus driver for the Santa Cruz Transportation Authority was arrested for fraud and grand theft, after his employer found out that despite claiming total disability and collecting workers' comp payments, he had actually run the Big Sur Marathon. No word on his time. And a man fleeing the cops in Rodeo, near Hercules, decided his best way out of his situation was to run onto I-80 (despite folks telling him it was a bad idea) where he promptly -- boom! -- got hit by a truck. He's now in the same hospital as the two people he attacked with a deadly weapon, and as soon as he gets better, will be booked for attempted murder. As the officer said, ""The gentleman decided to try it [running across the highway] and it didn't work out. It just is so idiotic." more ›

With Dr. Hunter S. Thompson moving on to bigger and better things, writers, critics, stoners and other hangers-on are organizing tributes around the country and around the world. But we have a feeling that the only one Hunter himself would have attended would be right here in San Francisco at the Edinburgh Castle Pub. Sure, Jahn Wenner will probably throw some blockbuster event full of literary luminaries in New York, but we all know that Rolling Stone lost any counter-cultural relevance it may have had when they moved across the country, and it's in San Francisco where the independent spirit and the embrace of the surreal that was Thompson's legacy still lives on. From the press release: more ›