Much to our surprise, the motion that almost allowed our fair Mayor Gavin Newsom to eschew his monthly cameos Board of Supervisor meeting was tabled. That is to say, it was killed. Dead. According to Sweet Melissa recounts today's nail-biting Board of Supes meeting thusly: Supervisor Daly spoke twice against the motion, at one point reading off a list of donors to the Let's Really Work Together coalition which opposed Prop E. Supervisor Mirkarimi......

This is most exciting news, folks. The theater scene here sucks so hard now that even the San Francisco Police Department is working on the problem. Check it: Subject: Broadway Community Meeting with SFPD's Captain Dudley Thursday, February 21, 6PM, Tel-Hi Neighborhood Center, 660 Lombard Street. Captain Dudley from Central Station will hold a meeting to update neighbors on the current situation on the Broadway corridor. Topics to include:......

Hal Holbrook in "Mark Twain Tonight": Julia Sugarbaker's husband and Oscar nominee for this year's Into the Wild, Broadway veteran Hal Holbrook won a Tony Award in 1966 for playing satirical American writer in this performance, and he's been doing it ever since. This one-man show draws on observations taken from Twain's own material. A real treat for admirers of American literature. The show starts tonight at 8 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center......

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. Standouts: 1. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend: We've been spouting praise about Vampire Weekend's newest release since early December, when we heard their album for the first time. Since then, we've seen them live at The Independent, put them on our "Albums We're Looking Forward To in 2008" list and finally featured them (once again) in "This Week in Le......

This morning's brief Oakland standoff between police and an old-fashion robbery suspect ended today with neither fuss nor muss. (That is to say, no bloodshed. Good for you, Oakland.) The robber surrendered outside of a studio apartment near 32nd and Telegraph avenues around 11:30 a.m. this morning, located in the cutely named "Pill Hill" district. Causing all of this commotion? It seems that 45-year-old Ken Stanley allegedly robbed a donut store on 44th and......

Researching San Francisco history means spending way too much time sitting in the dark. In the library, we mean, staring at microfilm of old newspapers. Hours of scanning those scratched and blurry archives makes us a little punchy, so we blinked and rubbed our eyes at this gruesome headline from the February 13, 1902 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle. We wondered momentarily if it was a prescient comment on the state of contemporary......

Gus Van Sant isn't the only one who might make you a shiny, coke-addled star here in San Francisco. Take, for example, MTV and NBC who want to use you for their up-and-coming reality programming....

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. Standouts: 1. Sia - "some people have real problems": Back in October, we had the chance to see Sia live at the Fillmore. Her press agent emailed us and told us that she was trying out new songs from her upcoming album "some people have real problems." At first, we were kinda bummed; we wanted to hear the music we......

We're sure you've read, by now, Pitchfork's or Paste's, "Best Albums of 2007" lists. Now we could get all "official" and post a similar list to Austinist's Top 15 (which we agree pretty heavily with) but we didn't want to type the same list and publish it again; we're going to try something a bit different. Now, at Sfist we use the collective and most sacred "we", but this time, this is strictly mine. I......

The cold weather - and holiday festivities - descended upon Gothamist. The Rockefeller Christmas tree was lit, Broadway stagehand finally ended their strike, and NASCAR decided to run their victory lap through Times Square. There were disturbing photographs revealing the working conditions in which many city manholes are produced and ninjas were also a hot topic, either robbing homes or entering into alibis. But the city was really rocked by how Rudy Giuliani's visits......

In North Beach fights breakout and mild vandalism occurs after bars close at 2 a.m. This chaos, typical for any city, makes some of our sensitive city dwellers cranky before bedtime. Or whatever. So, the City Planning Commissioners somehow got it into their heads that closing pizza parlors on the the Broadway strip, pizzerias that normally stay open until 3 a.m. or 4 a.m., before 2 a.m. will solve a slew of problems. According to the Examiner:...

Two people were killed this morning after a single-alarm fire broke out at the Star of India restaurant on Polk and Broadway. "The kitchen was fully involved in flames when firefighters arrived," said San Francisco Fire Department Lt. Mindy Talmadge according to Bay City News. The bodies were found in a loft space just above the kitchen. Also, "one firefighter's foot fell through the floor of the loft," prompting the crew to leave until......

According to CBS 5 (interrupting us right in the middle of The People's Court, no less!) "East Contra Costa County residents are being evacuated from an area near the unincorporated town of Knightsen because of a possible explosive device found inside of a residential motor home." Motor homes and explosive devices? Who could've imagined!? Anyway, that's all the info posted so far. We'll update as soon as more info becomes available. Update: Taken (again!)......

-- The Life of Reilly: He starred in Hello, Dolly, won a Tony and an Emmy, a Broadway director, and had one hell of a mother, but Charles Nelson Rilley will always be remembered for his Match Game PM innuendos and Brett Sommers trashing. His one-man show was filmed (thank God) for posterity just before he died, and you have the privilege of seeing a star of such magnitude tonight at 7:30 p.m. and......

-- The Shining (1980): "Honey, I'm home," "Here's Johnny!" etcetera, etcetera, Kubrick, and so forth. (No one wields a baseball bat like Shelley Duvall. So awkward. Also, what ever happened to her?) Screens at midnight (okay, 11:55 p.m.) at the Clay. -- Heat: The Endup gets Warholian on you with a club night dedicated to Andrew's Factory and all the wonderful superstars, nuts, and sex symbols it produced. DJ Donimo and DJ6 pump out......

-- Carmen Jones: Based off of Georges Bizet's famous French opera Carmen, the adaptation was made into a successful Broadway musical, and then a '50s film staring Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte, and Pearl Bailey. Now, see it again on stage right here in SF. The curtain goes up tonight at the African-American Art & Culture Complex (762 Fulton); $15. -- The Halloween Friday Night Skate: Rollerskate (or blade) in your Halloween costume without breaking......

-- Grilled Cheese Invitational : What's better than a grilled cheese sandwich? Nothing, that's what. (Our apologies go out to all and any lactose-intolerant readers. You live a life of heartache we can only imagine.) This competition, though, will feature ingredients ranging from Kraft Singles (yum!) to truffle butter, brie, rice, and more. Starts at 8:30 p.m. at Eli's Mile High Club, Oakland; $5. -- Edward Gorey's Dracula: Guests are encouraged to wear Gorey-inspired......

Exploring San Francisco through the lens of city blocks, Blocker is a weekly series by Charles Hodgkins. Look for it on SFist each Wednesday, around the lunching hour. View the map of all published Blocker episodes. Blocker, No. 20: Broadway in Russian Hill It’s never achieved the kind of celebrity the fallen Berlin Wall did. It doesn’t separate clashing cultures the way Belfast’s Falls Road / Shankill divider still does. Roger Waters didn’t perform......

-- San Mateo Bridge shuts down, then opens. Ta-da. [Examiner] -- Dan Noyes on Jerry Lucas, the sanity-estranged man who followed a then-pregnant Jill Rabinowitz into her garage, severely beating her with a can of paint. He might soon get sprung from the funny farm. [ABC7] -- Streets such as "Van Ness Avenue, Broadway...Harrison Street" and more could turn into toll roads under a proposed city plan to ease traffic congestion. [Chron] -- Viggo......

Edward Gorey's art is perhaps the greatest combination of cute and grotesque we've seen. And it's not just for goth kids; everyone can enjoy the new exhibit at the Cartoon Museum of Art (655 Mission St.) through January 20, 2008....

We duped ourselves into thinking iPhones weren't the work of God. But they are. And we want one. Bad. Real bad. Last week, we had the privilege of hanging with a few adorable, young lads, all on the cusp of innovative technology. And they all sported iPhones, thus an at-one-with-the-world glaze in their eyes. We have a stupid BlackBerry, so: constipation, tears. Steve Jobs -- who still boasts a decent shelf butt (see image)......

-- Metropolis (1927): Set in 2027, "the thinkers" and "the workers" overlap, shooting off a million theses and dissertations for years to come. Fritz Lang's gorgeous, science-fiction masterpiece. Oh, and there's a sexy robot in it. Oh my. Film Screens at 4:30p.m., 7, 9:30 at the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro (at Castro and Market Streets). -- Pete Yorn: American singer-songwriter and guitarist headlines along with reunited Australian rock outfit Crowded House and Liam Finn.......

Uh oh! Did you stop by the Jamba Juice on Lincoln Avenue in Willow Glen in San Jose any time during the first two weeks of August? An employee may have given you hepatitis A. Turns out one of the food handlers didn't realize she was sick and she might have given it to you if she didn't wash her hands properly. If you were at the JJ from August 9-16, get a shot. If......

We were thinking of Chekov’s principle of drama: "One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it," when Hotel Casablanca opened with a rack full of guns hanging on the wall. Was it to illustrate that Thomas Pasatieri, the composer/librettist of this new opera, had relocated the original French play in NRA-friendly Texas, or were the weapons instrumental to the plot? Well, we won’t spoil the......

-- Trannyshack's Siouxsie and the Banshees Night: Trannyshack icon and Scissor Sisters [NSFW] star Ana Matronic returns home to help Heklina host tonight's Siouxsie tribute. Also, we heard a rumor that Ana likes to watch live Broadway musical clips on YouTube. (i.e., str8-gay hipster suicide.) Is this true? We don't believe it. But if she does, she just landed herself a new stalker. Music starts at 10 p.m. and the show begins at midnight......

San Mateo boy made good -- very good -- Merv Griffin died today at age 82, via prostate cancer. ...

There was a huge crash on South 280 this morning just after 7:30 a.m., when a car speeding over 100 mph from Los Altos to San Jose lost control. A witness reports that the speeding car appeared to have something wrong with it, as the hazard lights were flashing and there was smoke coming from one of the tires. The 60-year-old speeding driver was trying to pass people in the left shoulder, but clipped one......

-- The A’s: Oakland play at home against the Baltimore Orioles. Game starts at 7:05 p.m. at McAfee Coliseum; $9-$44. -- "Blow-Up": DJ Jefrodisiac and Emily Betty’s "indie-pop-disco-noir" (noir?) monthly dance club brings out hipsters of every ilk. But that doesn’t mean that you still can’t have a good time. Vin Sol & Morse Code, the Lovemakers (DJ set), Codebreaker, and Disco Nat make special guest appearances, and resident DJ Richie Panic and MC......

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......

Who ya got? The cowboy or the samurai? That's the question posed by the Asian-American Theater Company's Cowboy v. Samurai, a story about two Asian-American cowboys in Montana who fall in love with the same Korean-American new girl in town. Our Gothamist cousins liked it when it played in New York. 2 p.m. at the Thick House (1695 18th Street, x Arkansas), $20. Other events: --The workers united -- have a whole month to celebrate!......