Well, that was quite a year, wasn't it? SFist kept winning awards (again), kept you entertained and informed (as always), and kept stoking the fires of your brain, prompting much thoughtful commentary. Everything from Marina garbage to Fox News to murderous cyclists sparked verbal handwringing, condemnation, and brilliant humor. And most — but not all — of you did it without resorting to horrid "um..." or "am I the only one here who..." prefacing. Well done, readers.

And with that, we give you SFist's top five most commented on stories of 2012:

5. Fox Nation Sees Trash In San Francisco, Fabricates Entire Story To Blame Green Activists

Fox News made an art of fibbing in 2012. When they weren't erroneously calling the Westboro Baptist Church a left-wing group, they fabricated a story about green activists in San Francisco. Why? Because Fox News is made up of lying whores for right-wing special interests.

4. Cyclist Who Struck Pedestrian At Castro: "I Just Plowed Through The Crowded Crosswalk"

A cyclist who killed a pedestrian in the Castro seemed menthol-cool about the entire ordeal. Who would have thought that a cyclist doing something bad would result in hundreds of angry commenters unleashing their own venom? Crazy world.

3. Marina Partiers Leave Behind Massive Fort Mason Mess

In 2012, we learned two important local things: hating on the Mission was bad (oh, the volumes of angry emails we received by people who identify themselves based solely on the neighborhood in which they live!), but noting what's stereotypically bad about the Marina was just dandy. Don't believe us? Just take a look at the commentary after scores of Marina partiers left behind a messy scene at Fort Mason.

2. America Comes Out For Chick-Fil-A, Gay Bashing

Very good chicken sandwiches and banana pudding shakes. Very bad values. See you in hell, Palin.

1. Large Naked Woman Stomps On Car In Noe Valley

An image — a simple one shot by a Muni passenger — of a naked woman stomping on a car in Noe Valley went, as horrible MSM journalists would say, viral. Sadly, much of the commentary shamed the mentally ill woman for being large. People (men usually but not always) cannot resist waging the war on women online as evidenced in the comments section. Alas. A glorious image that showed off the best and worst commentary.

Kenneth Ryan, Prop Master of the San Francisco Ballet has undergone and SFist interview below. As a San Francisco native he’s got all kinds of good tips about the city. As someone who has been involved with the ballet for over two decades, he’s got some very cool insights into the background of the production.

Most difficult prop you've ever had to come up with?
The one that the designer doesn’t really know what they want. Once they’ve made that decision, my crew and I can make anything.

Coolest prop in the Nutcracker?
The settee where Clara sleeps. It’s an electric wheelchair that’s been stripped down to the drive wheels and batteries. It is operated by remote control.

Favorite ballet?
Nutcracker. It has been a part of my Christmas for the last 24 years. It is the introduction to ballet for so many people. It’s seeing what I do through the eyes of a child filled with wonder and amazement. Many of the younger dancers get opportunities to dance roles that allow them to stretch their abilities. It’s a fun time of year.

How did you become a prop master?
My boss retired and I applied and was given the job.
Peter Divine, my high school director, taught me the love of theatre and it never left. No special training. It’s mostly organization skills and common sense along with a crew that can make anything you need.

Something that most people don't notice/ appreciate your art that they really should.
The magic starts at 8 o’clock in the morning and goes until 11 o’clock at night. You need to pour your heart into it to create the magic.

This reading list is the result of a conversation that started innocently enough on the SFBG's blogs, in a post about homelessness in Golden Gate Park and, tangentially, the Spanish American War. When the SFBG's Tim Redmond that "We can fix that. It costs money. Money comes from taxes," SFist_Mattymatt responded with distressed skepticism. Frankly, he was a bit of an asshole.

Stephen T. Jones, the paper's city editor, responded via email, and after some conversation, provided a reading list for the aspiring Marxist. We asked if we could post the conversation here, which we've done, minus anyone's contact info. We've also refrained from adding commentary to the emails, and in fact specifically promised not to be glib. This was an incredibly difficult thing for us to do (and as you can see, our accompanying illustration utterly fails this commitment), but it seemed like the nice thing to attempt since our "attitude and wordplay" is a point of some contention.

Ironically, both parties involved in this conversation probably believe that it proves totally opposite things about themselves and each other. But we won't say what those things are -- for if any commenting is to be done on this state of affairs, it is up to you, the readers.

-----Original Message-----
From: mattymatt
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2007 11:57 PM
To: Steve Jones
Subject: [Politics] New Comment Posted to 'Yes, Chuck, enough is enough'


A new comment has been posted on your blog Politics, on entry #1883 (Yes, Chuck, enough is enough).

Oh dear God. Tim wrote "Money comes from taxes." Funny, I thought money came from work, and taxes are what take money AWAY.

---

On 10/10/07, Steve Jones wrote:
Money comes from government mints...

As you have probably already noticed, we've made some changes around here. Yesterday morning SFist, its publisher Gothamist, and our sister sites unveiled a new option: guest comments are automatically not displayed for users. But if you do want to read guests' comments, simply click "Show Guest Comments" and -- poof! -- all will be revealed. At least for now.

This is but one step in the process of getting rid of guest comments altogether. Soon, if you want to make a comment on SFist, you will be required to create a profile. Period. It actually isn't that difficult to register, and if you're paranoid about giving us your personal information, simply create a fake email account and go from there.

Already we've received some choice commentary about our final solution for guests:

-- "Utterly lame!"
-- "Fucking lame"
-- "[SFist is] full of itself."
-- "I'm tired of juggling ALL 83 of my online user and passwords."
-- "I hope you die of AIDS."

And while we (more or less) don't mind negative comments, we're simply ask you to not make them anonymously. If you feel the need to post anonymous comments, there are many other sites on the Internets that will allow you to do so. And if you hate us and wish we would just crawl into a hole and die, we recommend you not read any sites in which you have no faith.

Thanks, all! If you have any questions or concerns regarding the matter, please feel free to contact me at brock @ sfist.

Ahhh, the lazy days of summer keep on keeping on, yet the commentary here on SFist continues to be fast, furious, fierce, and even funny.

We really enjoy that pretty much any reader that's not being a complete douchebag can give an opinion, rather than some lofty editor picking and choosing which letters are worthy of publication; we see that as a vestigial relic of the print medium, not suited for an online publication.

In short, we like when you talk back to us about stuff--some of our favorites from last week were:

1] Spots on C-Big (of Swells! fame), back in the saddle! We love you, Spotswood!

2] Mariconsoy for, er, "translating" the Amy Winehourse cancellation announcement.

3] DJTennessee's shocking confession relating to Laura Albert/JT Leroy: us too, buddy. Us too.

4] This guest exercised a poignant little bit of honesty in regard to the Bi-Transgender tiff over the Chasing Amy Social Club.

5] Steakfrites had a funny twist on our assessment of many San Franciscans feeling that Barry Bonds "is a cheater unworthy of praise."

That's it, kids! Remember, Friday is essentially a holiday, and Monday is one, so get those good comments in while you're still around!

We got a chuckle when local thought leader and former Ferrari test-driver Scott Beale drew our attention to the perils of allowing unfettered commentary by linking to a hilarious, quasi-NSFW two-minute video.

Which comment is your favorite?

We're both flattered an saddened by our witty betters at Gawker -- flattered that they stole our idea to spotlight comments (not that we're especially innovative in doing so, but still); a little saddened that theirs is already so much better in its execution. Depressing, yet we soldier on, because many of your thoughts deserve to be read a second time.

Quick note: we'd also like to remind you guys that while you're welcome to leave meta-commentary in the comments sections, an easier way to get an answer about issues relating to SFist itself and related policy is to just email one of the editors or writers (contact info for specific individuals can be found on the staff page).

Here's this week's Top 5:

1) Wow, a reader asked about gyms to go to, and you guys really responded. Tons of helpful suggestions from a score of readers; we'll certainly take this thread into consideration when it's time to re-up in January.

2) mariconsoy was both super-informative (this note is almost a PSA), insightful, and amusingly (and preemptively) bitchy in the "meter maids assaulted" thread. Well done, as always, mariconsoy.

3) We liked AJ's question because we know the answer: that famous picture of Daly can be found here, on the site of the fine, award-winning news photographer that took it, Jason Doiy. Check out the rest of his work while you're there as well.

4) We don't usually like to do more than one "read the whole damned thread," as a comment of the week pick, but the commentary accompanying Matt's piece on the Tenderloin Housing Clinic was extremely moving and informative.

5) We enjoyed MalcoveMagnesia's perspective on Apple and its products, especially the part where he reminds us that "customers should be reasonable."

The Chron article explores two possible remedies: syringes with retractable needles (which cost much more than normal syringes), and 24 hour biohazard drop boxes. It turns out that the San Francisco AIDS foundation, which runs most of the city's needle exchange programs is going to install a drop box at Sixth and Mission within the next six weeks. The idea is that addicts aren't necessarily going to wait around for programs to open to dump their used syringes, hence the drop boxes.

Will all of this work? Tough to say. The SFPD was calling outreach services for one of our neighborhood homeless folks in front of our apartment when we went running this morning, and there were still seven or eight piled-high shopping carts at Alvord Lake in the Park at nine-fifteen. We'll check back in a few weeks - the Chronicle will probably have forgotten all about this by then, but we run through the Haight nearly every day.

Image of a retractable syringe from Pet Remembrance Products.

As you may remember, Alioto-Pier (or MAP, as we like to call her) is spearheading the push to institute a code of conduct for supervisors, after the flap about Chris Daly saying that there were cocaine use allegations about Mayor Newsom. We can't find a copy of MAP's proposal online, but the Chron says it punishes "aggressive, abusive, or offensive conduct." (As you may recall, Daly in response is working on a code of conduct of his own, to prohibit sexual relationships between superiors and subordinates, and to require better attendance at board meetings.)

Problem is, MAP's proposal (to remove offending supes from committees) violates the City Charter (only the board president can do that) and state law (certain supes are required to serve on certain Bay Area-wide committees). And despite MAP's protests to the contrary, it seems like it might violate the First Amendment too. Sean Elsbernd also pointed out that the way the proposal is drafted, it could potentially be used by more strategic and procedurally-savvy supervisors (who could that be?) to harass others.

MAP's going to take a week to fix those loopholes, but as Tom Ammiano pointed out, fixing those loopholes would take away any punitive weight of the code of conduct. "I'm wondering, what's next? [Banning] eye rolls?" This type of commentary has people wondering if MAP'll actually even be able to get her code of conduct voted through -- but she's not dissuaded; she says she'll put it on the ballot if she gets voted down. (She needs 6 votes to get the rules passed by the Board, but only 4 to send it to us to decide.)

You guys know what this is about by now: our readers' commentary is the sheen on the apple that is SFist, and we like to recognize those whose input has amused, educated, or otherwise titillated us every week. Our choices for last week's Top 5 follow:

1) We got a big kick out of SFMike's comment on the "City Hall becomes orange" story. Hah! Truth in advertising indeed, sir.

2) A lot of invective and strong comments on the Daly/Dufty imbroglio from last week. Of all the commentary, the one we most agreed with was from a guest: indeed, Mr. Daly would look quite fly.

3) Matt Stroud, the subject of a story about his final blog post for SF Weekly, answers his critics (though we wish he'd register).

4) Ah, here's a guest comment with which we agree wholeheartedly -- even a fashion-backward fellow like us got addicted to StyleMob even after a short time playing around in it (despite a little bugginess--it's in beta. Might be invite-only).

5) Aaaannnd: we finish up with Cranky, who admits he's trying to make the Top 5 Comments list as he gives us a link to an amusing pic. Well, shoot, Cranky, since you asked . . .

The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (SFJFF) is the first and only Jewish film festival in the world. At least that's what the President of the SFJFF said at the Castro Theatre last night when he introduced the opening night movie, . This is the kind of thing that makes us so proud to live here. Suck it, New York! We'd give our left nut for one morsel of your pastrami (extra juicy with a side of half sours please) but we have a Jewish Film Festival!

Sweet Mud is the torturous story of a freakishly beautiful 12 year-old boy named Dvir. (The story isn't about him being freakishly beautiful, that's just our personal opinion). Dvir's mother, who is already teetering on the brink of instability, is slowly becoming unhinged by lost love and the tyranny of life on a Kibbutz. (Watch the trailer.)

During the Q&A after the movie the audience seemed fixated on the movie as commentary on the Kibbutz system, especially since the director/writer, Dror Shaul was born and raised on one. Shaul summed it up nicely when he said that the movie was really about how "Kibbutz failed the individual the way the mother failed the son."

After the jump: He did WHAT with a cow?

SFist Mihi, contributing.

Plenty of interesting stuff happened in San Francisco last week, and our readers, as always, added funny, insightful, and interesting angles to the stuff we wrote about. Our furious, fabulous five for last week -- the first week with a new guy in the top spot! -- follows:

1) The history behind this red, white & blue Muni bus was a mystery no more, thanks to a guest comment from "Retired Muni Operator."

2) Our very own SFist Leanne shared a conversation she overheard on the bus in reference to some recent shootings. Yeesh.

3) Thanks to an anonymous guest (REGISTER, people! We want to give you credit!) who shared with us a wild link about a SATANIST! Double yeesh!

4) cat not only commented on how silly aspects of the NYT's coverage of our mayoral race was and made sure we knew what up with Matt. G, she also took one for the team by writing a letter to the editor of the Old Gray Lady -- then provided an update on the national media's current obsession with our local politics. That's like commentary overtime. We're going to give her time and a half.

5) Finally, good comment by ievans, who, in reference to something Officer Andrew Cohen told us, points out that loyalty shouldn't be given blindly or unconditionally.

Recently announced mayoral candidate, activist Josh Wolf, began his quest for enough signatures to get on the ballot fee at the Noe Valley Farmers' Market on Saturday. It wasn't a great day for it weather-wise, but he was meeting and greeting nonetheless.

We chit-chatted with him a bit, and he committed to doing an "official" interview with us in the near future. Highlights of our conversation included both mild criticism of the last piece we wrote about him -- "when you reduce the 10 items down to just descriptions, they have no real substance" -- which is probably fair, though he did understand our position that we couldn't reprint them wholly (we did link to the original list for readers interested in the whole plan). He indicated appreciation for the reader feedback that was left as well.

While his idea to video-stream his life on the job would indeed shed sunshine on mayoral activities, we posited that the constituency could be better served by an open, valid forum for feedback (one that's actually easily accessible, read by mayoral staff, and taken seriously). Mr. Wolf had a good idea about promoting that sort of interactivity: an online forum with ranked commentary, so folks could "vote" good ideas to the top of the page, and thus the city's attention.

Mr. Wolf did not specifically make this point to us -- it just came up in conversation -- but we thought it would be important to note to our readership: he, indeed, has a day job. (Much of the negative response to him has been in the spirit of "get a job"). He works at a community college television station as its outreach director. Any campaigning he does is strictly around that schedule; whatever else you may think, his activities candidacy-wise are purely a spare-time effort. He's no trustafarian or professional politician; he needs to pay the rent like the rest of us. For that, he's got our respect. For more specific details on his ideas, to help you make up your minds about the validity of his candidacy, keep your eyes peeled to SFist (and, yes, we'll be approaching Chicken John, Tony Hall, Gavin, and anyone else that officially declares for mayor as well).