FIESTA, FOREVER: Cinco de Mayo is a holiday honoring "an initial victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín over French forces in the Battle of Puebla," according to Wikipedia. And on that night way back in May 5, 1862, said forces celebrated this win with chips, salsa, frozen margaritas, and body shots. Or so we assume. No one really knows for sure. That said, here are a couple of Latin American-ish......

Photo from Thunderheist CLUB: Those zany and offensive Vice Magazine kids are back in town this evening to pour vodka down your throat, shove blow up your nose, and have you up until all hours. The nerve of them. And we wouldn't miss their party for the world. Tonight at Mezzanine, Vice Live's party has Black Ghost and Thunderheist to get you on the dance floor. Also, luring you in are live DJs, complimentary......

Want to help save Hole in the Wall Saloon from the spindly claws of old Mrs. Crabtree? Of course you do. It takes place soon, so head over to City Hall now, folks. ...

Local mash-up prodigy, DJ Earworm, has a new mash up. It is, for lack of a better word, phenomenal. He seamlessly splices together U2's "One," Beatles' "Come Together," Diana (Call Her Miss) Ross' "Someday We’ll be Together," and batshit insane Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together." What's more, he has a pretty sharp video to go along with his new ditty. Do check it out. Oh, and Earworm will be at DNA Lounge's "Bootie" on......

SF Late Night Coalition chairperson Terrance Alan (far left), Police Chief Heather Fong, and Newsom at yesterday's announcement With nightclubs like Jelly's, Whisper, and 715 Harrison playing host to fatal mischief over the past few months, yesterday Mayor Newsom and Police Chief Heather Fong went on the offense against SF nightlife. Four bits of legislation, co-sponsored by Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, will be put before the board of supes: - The first ordinance would require......

Violence at SF nightclubs has been all the rage this year - all nine days, that is - and now a summit is being held this month in order to curb the violent tomfoolery. A few choice incidences to refresh your memory: Marcus Pepper, 26, was killed on New Year's Day outside a Ninth Street warehouse SOMA party; Clarence Corbin 34, was shot outside Jelly's Dance Cafe in Mission Bay; Club Vessel was, well,......

Here's todays sports news...

BeyondChron has a civil point/counter-point debate going on about Yoshi's SF, which opens its doors today. But let's go back a bit, shall we? If you didn't know, San Francisco has the most cheery pockmark on its record: the "Negro removal" period. During this time historic buildings were torn down and black Western Addition residents were shooed out of the city. A movement that "never succeeded in driving all blacks from the Fillmore," but......

Here's todays sports news...

We have sad news for barflies everywhere—the bar John Barylecorn's will close this weekend after a desperate attempt at keeping it open. The bar became in trouble when local restaurateur Luisa Hanson purchased the building that held the bar and told the owners she was not looking to keep the place open. A campaign was started to save it, complete with petitions, a Great Pub Toast, and proposed legislation from Aaron Peskin but it was all to no avail. ...

We're expanding the SFist family, and we think you might look perfect in our Mormon-sized family photo. The cons include the facts that our commenters can be abusively frank and our editors are worse (much worse!) but the pros undoubtedly are sharing the scoop with SFist readers who are the smartest, freshest, smoothest, and most engaged folks in the Bay Area, period. We're looking for contributors in the following areas: Politics (and the local political......

-- Gay Geeks Saturday Night Social: "Fucking faggots," you scream? Ah, correction: "fucking nerd faggots," is more like it. Queers (not just Marys) who like to "geek out on the arts or science, study old plane crashes,... the myth of the American cowboy or how to make graphs more efficient for displaying data," this is the night for you. Come! Starts at 8 p.m. at Muddy's Coffeehouse, 1304 Valencia; free. -- Lights Out SF:......

Now we're just picking on the poor guy: in today's edition of the Examiner, the largest-font front page headline screams, "Pot club in Jew family's building is under review," going on to say, "Jew's pot-club tenants probed" (hee!) on page five. Anyway, the Nor-Cal Herbal Relief Patients’ Cooperative, a pot-club under review today by the Planning Department, happens to be located in a Jew-owned building in lovely Ingleside. What makes this club special --......

SFist interviews Jason Poranksi of Beirut, who are performing two nights at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco...

Cabbies are upset. Again. What's else is new? But: This time the crankypants are concerned about limousines and towncars that illegally -- illegally? oh please -- pick up passengers at hotels, bars, clubs, or wherever to grab extra cash. Makes sense on the higher-end autos part. But as cabbies scrounge for customers -- or so we've often heard them complain -- they hate seeing other (and fancier) modes of transportation swipe passengers. According to......

In all the marches in of the cities in all the world, a march to City Hall is taking place today for one of the most noble causes in San Francisco to date. 100 or so golfers will be marching to the Board of Supervisors meeting to demand their voices be heard on the topic of shutting down public courses in the city. 100 golfers – wow. Is Van Ness wide enough to handle......

Xavier Hegelsen is one of those guys who make you grin and shake your head in wonder. His primary gig is running Better World Books, which he co-founded after graduating from Notre Dame in 2001. BWB takes books that university bookstores and libraries can’t use and resells, donates, or recycles them. The company then donates overhead profits to worldwide literacy organizations like Books for Africa or Room to Read. The company has grown to......

-- Queer Jitterbugs Salsa Series: Come learn and/or showoff your salsa moves at this weekly Monday night dance class/party. Perfect for those of you who want to do something on a Monday night, but don't want to deal with DJ-heavy dance clubs. The dancing goes from 7p.m. to 9 p.m. at Julie's Supper Club, 1123 Folsom (at 7th St.). -- Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox: Ultra-pepperminty "all-purpose" soap -- the one with the the loony,......

We have to admit that we're not terribly excited about the All Star Game next Tuesday. None of the players who play really care despite the "This Time it Matters" hype and usually by the sixth inning, when most of the actual stars are flying back in their rented private jets, you get all the excitement of watching some reliever for the Devil Rays facing off against some guy from the Nationals. The only thing that will make it worth watching is to see the ball park and the city get shown off. Well, that and they're expecting so many boats in the Cove that the Giants will only allow boats that register to be out there. We love when the Cove is filled with boats. ...

Last week's winner, the Bay Guardian! Oh, Tim Redmond, we're so sorry to hear about your dad. [Moment of silence.] Okay. The Guardian's with Daly on the budget. They got a letter from someone saying Ed Jew is innocent. More info on the layoffs at the Merc News. A man with psychiatric problems gets no help from the city. More people upset with Newsom's proposed budget. They're going to crack down on pot clubs --......

We just love this cute pic of a mail man loading letters and food. It's the perfect example of a nice canned food drive happening nationwide tomorrow. Some (or is it just us?) may immediately think this canned good drive is a great way to drive up Campbell's business, and they'd probably be correct. Campbell's is the main sponsor. They also may wonder, "Hey, how do I know some sketchy dude(tte) isn't going to......

Here's todays news...

Revel in it Bay Area NBA fans: this year the Western Conference playoffs mean something, because for the first time in 13 years, the hometown Warriors are part of the party.

So let's take a quick drive down the lane and see what the Warriors are going to have to deal with as they knife their way to the Finals. (Yeah, we know, but just roll with the sentiment. It's been 13 years and there's an abundance of pent-up enthusiasm to be dissipated.)

Anyways, die to recent troubles at two clubs, the Entertainment Commission is looking at possible solutions to the problems. One of them is to have better and more educated owners. The other? Later closing times! ...

As noted in this week's SF Weekly and SFist Rita's "We Read the Weeklies" column, the Bay Area's (and beyond) beloved Kitchen Sink—the magazine for people who think too much—is calling it quits this spring. Kitchen Sink is the latest of several independent publications to shut down due to the Independent Press Association's failure to fulfill its commitments before going under. Before Kitchen Sink's proverbial well runs dry, they will be producing one last issue. But they need your help to do it! Stop on by Edinburgh Castle this Saturday night for their fundraiser, which will feature lots of bands and a raffle with prizes from Amoeba, the Believer and local artisans....

Hooray! Noise Pop is finally here! Keep that radio dial locked in on SFist as we feature music and movie reviews from the local indie rock scene throughout the weekend. And hey, check this out! Looking for a light buzz before heading out for the evening's musical guests? Diesel and Fader Magazine++ are sponsoring a three-hour happy hour tonight, tomorrow, and Friday night from 6-9 p.m. They've got indie celeb DJs, including Zach Rogue from......

Boing Boing tips us off to this awesome short 1961 film about juvenile delinquency, and how gangs can help curb the trend towards teenage lawlessness. And by "gangs" we mean "clubs," as that's what they're called here. The most awesome thing about this video? It's all in San Francisco. And you'll probably need a jive dictionary to translate the narration.......

Good news! San Francisco school board vice president Norman Yee is recovering nicely after being hit by a car the day after Christmas. The accident shattered his spine and crushed an artery in his neck. Turns out Norman Yee is an avid salsa dancer, and was crossing Bryant and 4th that Tuesday with the light in his favor to get to a local club (maybe the Glas Kat?). Yee doesn't remember much about the accident,......

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to....

Man, the San Francisco Police Officers' Association president Gary Delagnes is all over the news these days! We're setting up a Google News Alert for Delagnes even as we speak! --On Heather Fong's leadership style, Delagnes told the Chron today, "The cops in this department feel as though they are under siege.... [Fong] has a quiet, understated style. She believes diplomacy is the way to go. The cops on the street feel that diplomacy isn't......