BOOK SIGNING: Artist and author Justin Bua, known for his bestselling collection of fine-art posters, will be at the Booksmith tonight, along with DJ QBert, celebrating the release of The Legends of Hip Hop, featuring portraits of 50 of the greatest names in hip hop history, along with a personal essay that details each individual's impact on cultural history and Bua’s own life and work. (6:30 p.m., The Booksmith, 1644 Haight Street) more ›

Tonight, hear the soothing sounds of John Coltrane played by local gem, the Marcus Shelby Trio at Yoshi's SF, get insider info on executing elegant meals in minutes at Bazaar Cafe, or watch Los Angelenos become rat meat at the Roxie. more ›

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--The US Attorney's office is going to monitor the SF elections, like we're East Timor or Florida or something. more ›

Open wide! (At the orifice of your choosing.) This Friday ... 7pm ... A Different Light (489 Castro St. at 18th St.): a book signing by local comic artists Justin Hall, Steve MacIsaac, and Andy Hartzell. Justin, along with Dave Davenport, is one of the smutty minds behind "Hard to Swallow," a periodic anthology of phalluses and gooey fluids. (He also writes a non-pr0nish series called "Swallowing a Cobra's Heart and Other True Travel Tales.") Issue two of "HtS" is just coming out now, as well as , a collection of gay zine comics spanning the last 10 years. more ›

There must be something in the air, because this is the week of weeks for comic book artists to make appearances in SF. On Friday, Justin Hall & friends are doing a book signing at A Different Light (we'll be posting more details about that on Thursday) ... and on Wednesday, Gene Luen Yang, local author of the awesome , is throwing a launch celebration at Isotope on Wednesday at 7pm. more ›

Leave work early today for the Northern California Book Awards! It's all happening at the Main Library (100 Larkin Street), starting with a 5 p.m. book signing and reception with many of the nominated authors in the Latino/Hispanic Room. The awards ceremony starts at 6 in the Koret Auditorium. Admission for the event is free. more ›

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! Did you know that America's "first black Millionaire" was Yerba Buena resident Alexander Leidesdorff? Eric Meyerson got a chance to see Nobel Laureate Jimmy Carter at a recent book signing. And the wheels of the criminal justice system continue to squeak, with this harrowing tale of dealing with the Fremont courts. more ›

For all those people wishing somebody, anybody, would get to the bottom of this whole steroid mess, have no worries, congress is here! This week, members of the House Government Reform Committee, having finished reforming the government, have asked several ballplayers linked in the steroid scandal, several ball players not linked in the steroid scandal, MLB baseball officials, and union officials to testify next Thursday in front of the committee about steroid abuse. Those players, including Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Jason Giambi, have pretty much refused to testify. As have most MLB officials. And so, yesterday, congress sent out subpoenas. Noticeably absent from all this is one Barry Lamar Bonds. This despite the fact he has become the poster-boy of alleged steroid abuse and despite the fact he's about to break the most famous record in all of sports. Not to mention despite the fact some people think this whole BALCO thing is nothing more than an attempt to get Barry. more ›

Last week's winner, the East Bay Express. Dream cartoonist outdoes himself with a dream about fighting Lord Vader! Cover article: The Oakland band Heavenly States had a horrible trip to Libya. Hey, Jose Canseco's doing a book signing at the Jack London Barnes and Noble next Monday! SFist Jake, we hope you're there! Was Abbey Lincoln drunk or delusional at her upsetting Yoshi's show last week? And Savage Love: why can't we charge barebackers full cost for anti-viral drug therapies for their victims? The SF Weekly: Matt Smith, being contrarian and pro-business. We never really understand what he's so upset about, but we're sure he's right! Dog Bites: better California quarter designs. Backroom dealings about Indian casinos. Hey! There's an orchestra performance of the music from Final Fantasy (scroll down) next Monday! Cover article: cabaret singer Antony. OK Then had a nice time at the Saturday J. Newsom concert, and, biting the EBX's style from last week, the Weekly also runs an article about metal yoginis High On Fire. Hilarious undercover sting operations in the Guardian and the Weekly of the Week, after the jump. more ›

While book signings themselves are not that big of an event in and of themselves, they can be depending on who is doing all the signing. Like ex-Presidents. Or skanky “celebrities.” And especially reclusive, iconoclastic writers. It’s an even bigger deal if said reclusive iconoclastic writer isn’t necessarily a writer per se, but a reclusive iconoclastic rock god. Tomorrow, the Bard of La Honda, the Godfather of Grunge, the man who can somehow still make Crosby, Stills, and Nash seem cool- Neil Young- appears at the Booksmith at Haight to sign copies of his new book, Greendale. Greendale, illustrated by James Mazzeo (who will also appear), is a book based on the CD that became a multi-media stage performance that became movie that became yet one more thing that made critics and fans alike go “what the hell is he doing now?” more ›

SFist enjoys going to literary events for a number of reasons, the least of which being that being at an actual book signing or reading makes us realize that these author are "Just Like Us", thus fueling our dreams of quitting our day job and going on book tour. more ›