This has the stench of Academy of Art student project emanating from it, but...who knows? An SFist reader (hillary's_quivering_lip) sent it in to us, taken at Montgomery and Sacramento. It's been posted there for a week, and said reader did not look up quietly. ...

Yowza! Yowza! Yowza! This Saturday afternoon at Dolores Park, Cash Tomato, a San Francisco "video sharing website that gives weekly large cash prizes to its highest rated videos," is giving away free cash. According to the press release, "from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. the general public will be able to find hundreds of tomatoes hidden in Dolores Park (map) San Francisco, each and every one with cash attached." Nifty. In addition to the......

Someone please tell us what this means! We neither speak nor understand Mexican. Helpo! It seems that these have been found up and down Howard Street today, and we're flummoxed. What secrets do they hold? How to find the Maltese Falcon? On which corner the strongest tar is available? The new editor of the Chronicle? Gracias to James over at Nature abhors a vacuum for the image.......

Another public display of commemorative prose, folks. What with this plus the animals trying to escape from the zoo, you'd think the end is nigh, a big earthquake is on its way, or Aunt Flo has come for an extended visit. While mincing down Third Street to AT&T Park to catch some tasty waves, we came across the most darling bouquet of fresh flowers, above, lying on the sidewalk. While trying to steal them, we......

Yeah, we could hardly believe the headline ourselves. Do people have no shame? We missed this one, but yesterday Mayor Gavin Newsom's town car was vandalized by a parolee. Outside Newsom's Russian Hill apartment, Gregory Burgos, 41, was sauntering down the road, saw le Gav's shiny black car along with the two officers inside it (assigned to protect the Mayor), pulled out a sharp object of sorts, and scraped it along the side of......

Class and Power in Queer San Francisco: Come hear poets Meliza Bañales and Solidad de Costa, circus performer Keith Hennessy, and writer Michelle Tea push forth the homosexual agenda. Mwa ha ha. They will also touch upon the "schisms between different classes" among the queer community. That is to say, being poor and gay, like, really sucks. Starts at 7:30 p.m. at CounterPULSE; free. Secret Sunshine (2007): South Korea's official Oscar entry is a......

Kearny Street (at California) was closed for over an hour this afternoon after a window came off of the former Bank of America building, falling to the ground from the 38th floor. No one, it seems, was injured from any falling glass. According to an SFist tipster: This morning at about 10:30 window fell out of the Bank of America building at 555 California. It landed near the plaza next to the banker's heart......

In the tussle over the mantle of San Francisco’s Most Tucked-Away Neighborhood, Visitacion Valley gets our vote...particularly if by “tucked-away,” one really means “neglected.” Geographic and economic isolation have contributed to infrastructural decline - and crime - here for quite some time, although earnest efforts are being made these days to turn the tide. The block of Leland between Peabody and Rutland is dually zoned for business and residence, so the street is one of Viz Valley’s main drags. There’s plenty of foot and auto traffic here, and the 56 Rutland bus even shuffles by on occasion. Businesses bookend the nondescript strip as post-WWII housing, other small commercial concerns, and a pair of bottlebrush trees fill in the space between. Pretty? Not quite. But, utilitarian? Sure....

Oh, this looks like fun. While hogging the Internet today, we came across this Yahoo group for the homeless, which bills itself as a "unique, independent, community based support group, moderated by anonymous homeless and formerly homeless volunteers, in San Francisco, California." It's great. The homeless or lease signers among us can send them tips, blow whistles, upload real photos of meals served in several shelters, see photos of health and hygiene conditions at......

Japantown's new Sundance Cinemas Kabuki will offer the more discerning moviegoer (i.e.. people who self-consciously laugh out loud during Shakespeare comedies) something, well, more. Curbed SF has the full rundown on the new movie house that's sure to make you feel even that more self-righteous than you already do while braving the choppy waters of independent film. Check it: Designed by Berkeley-based ELS architects, the renovation of the former AMC Kabuki 8 utilizes post-consumer......

Oh la la. The reportedly very prickly Reese Witherspoon and rubenesque Vince Vaughn -- whatever, we'd hit it. Hit it hard -- are in town filming their new divorce-themed romcom, Four Christmases. (According to IMBD, it's about a "couple struggle to visit all four of their divorced parents on Christmas Day." If you're not in tears already, then clearly you have no soul.) And here they are at a....downtown locale of some sort? We......

By Dianne de Guzman Although it took awhile, we've finally recovered from the Yelp holiday extravaganza at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. As to be expected Yelpers know how to throw a party! There was an open bar, plenty of food to go around and lots of dancers, hula hoopers (hula hoopists?) and girls running around in Yelp underwear. More pictures after the jump.......

During our visit to this block of Collingwood, between 21st and 22nd Sts., we ask three residents which area neighborhood they most closely identify with. We get three different answers. 1: “Noe Valley – although I guess, technically, Noe Valley’s northern border is 22nd.” 2: (Shrug.) “I don’t know. Maybe the Castro? Eureka Valley? What is Eureka Valley? I suppose you can’t really call this a valley, since it’s up on a hill.” 3: “Do you live around here?” Not quite the consensus we’re hoping for. But surely we can all agree that the 400 block of Collingwood is San Francisco’s preeminent home of sidewalk birdhouses....

In the last two days we have witnessed 1. a pane of glass spontaneously shatter and fall from a building on Bonifacio. 2. a dramatic roof arrest of some dude who looked to be playing invisible tennis on Rizal. 3. a crazed man screaming in the middle of Harrison (at Lapu Lapu) while dodging oncoming traffic. Not to mention the drive-by shooting that took place the other night right outside SFist headquarters on Stillman. What......

We love the idea of turning the Presidio into a destination. After all, it's a gorgeous place. Ridiculously beautiful parts of the Presidio make Golden Gate Park look downright crummy. And what with the new landscaping, it's sure to become the tourist destination it so richly deserves. But it has a few obstacles, namely this Donald Fisher-proposed museum. While it's nice and pretty and "sedate but glassy," the area in unserved by local transit.......

The legendary Cafe Flore might find its way to the obit page of the B.A.R. soon. Why? Because if it doesn't "get permission to have the option to serve food 24 hrs a day, to have the option to have amplified entertainment to allow a background DJ," or to get the chance to serve booze until 2 am, the place might zip up and never call again according to SaveCafeFlore. Noes! Look, Cafe Flore......

Yeah, we plan on running this bit into the ground. And then some. Well, well, well. Well. Huh. It looks like Mr. Van Sant is having yet another open casting call for his Harvey Milk biopic, Milk. Seeing as how are the Gena Rowlands of bit-part/background acting, we're going to attend the casting call. Again. Clearly, our picture taken at the last audition was either destroyed by a envious auditioners, or it was lost......

It’s early on a Saturday afternoon, and we’ve somehow found our way to Paris. OK, we’re not in Paris. Rather, we’re poking around mellow South Park between 2nd, 3rd, Brannan, and Bryant Sts., where arrondissement 94107’s narrow ellipse of green space merely feels a bit Parisian. The scene in the park is, for the most part, typical and ephemeral: young parents with their kids at the playground, couples chatting on benches or picnicking at tables, dogs and their attendant humans. Falling leaves pepper the ground with muted autumn color. South Park’s twist on the familiar neighborhood park theme, however, is the regular presence of down-and-out’ers at its west end. Nobody seems to demonize the two or three unshowered men hanging about, and while we’re not interested in joining them for a game of checkers or anything, it seems to be a case of no harm, no foul – at least on this afternoon....

Oh my. This site sounded much more enthralling before we delved further. Still, it's interesting -- ripe with community-building spirit and harmonious stuff like that. Curbed SF brought to our attention the following site: Shoot Your Neighbors. It seems that the good folks over at SYN want you to "1) download and print the words to this Sesame Street classic; 2) take photographs of the people in your neighborhood, 3) Email said shots of......

Certain blocks speak to specific eras. While the local architecture can play a significant role, perhaps the most crucial factor is intangible...one that can’t be defined. It’s a mood we begin to sense as we sift around an area - what we imagine it to have been like so many years before, and in the case of certain places, how little it’s changed in the years since. Mission St. in the Excelsior had us thinking 1972 or so. Country Club Drive in the Parkside had 1954 down pat. Sturgeon St. on Treasure Island seemed rutted in about 1987. Amethyst Way in Diamond Heights feels like 1966....

Pitchfork has a rich article Fugazi's Joe Lally having thousands of dollars worth of equipment stolen from his touring van while it was parked on Valencia Street. Overnight. Fugazi's Joe Lally and Philly's Capillary Action were enjoying a nice stop over in San Francisco following a shared gig on their current tour when tragedy struck. November 16, between the hours of 3-10 a.m. on the corner of Valencia Street and Clinton Park, someone broke......

With tomorrow's official switch from plastic bags to paper bags looming, news stations have their top cameramen (or the more PC "camera operators") hitting grocery stores across the city, sticking their cameras in your face at the checkout stands. We ourselves were just shot (without permission, BTW) at Whole Foods on 4th and Harrison. Thank goodness we remembered to bring our reusable frayed-green Whole Foods tote. With stations like KTVU reporting live at the scene,......

Well, he does not care for our image, but still: same thing. Well, we went to this last Saturday's open casting call for Gus Van Sant's latest project, Milk. (Based off of the life of former San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, etc. etc...you know the story -- well, at least you should.) It was our first-ever open casting call, in fact. We were nervous. And totally unprepared. When we arrived on the scene, all......

The swell chaps over at Curbed SF have a poll going on about what to name the district that SFist brought to your attention yesterday. You need to vote, people! Rock it, as a matter of fact. Otherwise, TODO Magazine will get to christen each and every block of this city. We like the name "Sweet Pea Place," but Curbed readers have suggested the following: "SOMISSPO," "The Potrission," "Mitrero," "The Submission," or "MIS-O-PO" as......

Chenery House owner, colorful San Francisco ad man, and entrepreneur Bob Pritikin bought Hitler's globe this week for a cool $100,000. The globe, snatched fom Hitler's desk in the ruins of his Eagle's Nest retreat, was found by WWII U.S. soldier John Barsamian and put up for auction this week in San Francisco. Now, before you go labeling Pritiklin an anti-Semite, this man is character -- a true collector and unique hoarder. His home......

Whether official neighborhood status has been self-established by its residents or not, it seems Pierre (pronounced pyair-ee) Valley actually exists. In fact, based on the map posted on the neighborhood's website outlining the neighborhood boundaries, we lived in Pierre Valley for two years. But back when we resided on Tiffany Avenue (allegedly the longest block in the city), we lovingly referred to the neighborhood as the Intermission. Guilty. We were among those who tried to......

We’ll start with the token blue-collar business. Down toward the Laguna end of this block of Union, a red banner plastered on the home of plumbing/heating/appliance specialists A. Valente & Sons defiantly announces, We’re Here 100 Years – Get Used To It. One of its signature ramshackle red Ford pickups sits across the street, and the stubborn survival of such an unsophisticated enterprise along this, the Yankee Stadium of big-league boutiquery, gets us wondering: Will women’s fashion retailers BCBG Maxazria or Pavillion de Paris still be making sales here early in the 22nd century? Can Marc Jacobs handbags and Lennox heating systems forever co-exist on Union St.?...

On a recent cab ride to the airport, we picked up the November issue of TODO: Little Guide. Big Town. for kicks. After scanning the restaurant, bar, and shopping guides, we came across a map of San Francisco. We thought we must be a little behind on all the new neighborhood names, but after scouring the internet for some proof, we were unable to find any other map of the city that designates a neighborhood......

As Financial District blocks go, the 200 block of Front St. is notable for the human scale on which it’s built. The tallest buildings here between Sacramento and California rise a mere five stories. There’s plenty of potted foliage to counteract those “concrete jungle” accusations often lobbed this neighborhood’s way. No less than three popular, sit-down restaurants line its sidewalks. And unlike how things get on canyon-shadowed Sansome St. two blocks to the west, sunlight enjoys more than 15 minutes of daily fame on this stretch of Front. There’s more white-collar bustle than hustle occurring here toward the latter end of the lunch hour on an autumn Friday. Women slow their usual breakneck gait on the return to the office, while men dressed down to the eights in business-casual wear (it is a Friday, after all) appear to have dialed down their strides as well. Some women are decked out in heels and skirts, while others go less formal in flats and pants, but to their credit, it’s clear there’s no single look among them. The men? Not quite. We see the same striped shirt (always tucked in, of course) on three different men between the ages of 25-40 in under an hour....

Last Friday's public pie fight was a phenomenal, messy success. This reporter (above) got hit hard, it seems, or added more cream to her camera-ready face for the cameras. We're sorry we missed this, but again, as we used to whine in elementary school to avoid any water-balloon mayhem or recreational sporting activity, "Don't! Dude, our mom's going to kill us if we get our clothes dirty." Laughing Squid has an brilliant comment commencing......