After Luis Cancel's disastrous tenure—which, among other things, included telecommuting from Brazil, reports of horrid behavior to underlings, and "questionable granting practices"—the city made a spot-on decision by hiring Tom DeCaigny as cultural affairs director of the San Francisco Arts Commission. more ›

Kindie rock, jazz, and blues at Sunday Streets in the Tenderloin/Civic Center, Filipino culture and cuisine at Yerba Buena Gardens, Nihonmachi Street Fair in Japantown, Cuban and Brazilian music at Stern Grove, and a 10K to benefit San Francisco AIDS Foundation. more ›

Chinese New Year Parade and Fair: Does it rain during every Chinese New Year Parade? Find out tomorrow. There's also a community fair on Saturday and Sunday, featuring dance and music from throughout Asia, along with ancient and modern Chinese arts such as calligraphy, kite-making, and acrobatics. more ›

We put this in yesterday's Day Around the Bay, but since so many of you reacted with pure, unadulterated rage, we feel it necessary to give it its very own post. What we're talking about is this: resurrecting the CultureBus 74x. See, a new site popped up this weekend, RestoreThe74, which bemoans the loss of the little, yellow, different 74x that got you from one richly-textured SF landmark to the next, in record time with record leg room. more ›

Learn all there is to know about sake and tea at the Asian Art Museum tomorrow Thursday night, which kicks of their bi-monthly Matcha series. Kirsten Shilakes, art history lecturer, will lead a tasting and multi-media presentation on the history of the culinary arts, and Miwa Wang, sake sommelier and manager of True Sake, will discuss the nuanced tastes and bouquets of sake. There will also be a Japanese tea ceremony showcasing matcha, a powdered green tea, in which attendees will whisk their own matcha and learn about warrior culture. more ›

As always, funcheapSF has an exhaustive list of great stuff to do this weekend. For those who feel like staying in or getting out of town, there are street festivals and such all over the place. We've hand-picked just a few. more ›

American Hwangap, a world premiere comedy written by Lloyd Suh and directed by Trip Cullman, is currently showing at Magic Theatre. The play tells the story of a Korean immigrant returning home to his family in the United States on his 60th birthday (hwangap), whom he had abandoned fifteen years ago. more ›

Shrug off your post-Halloween blood-sugar hangover. Find your galoshes. Then dust off your umbrella-ella-ella-ella-ey-ey-ey and get out there in the rain to go see some excellent dance tonight!

In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Andanza Spanish Arts and ODC Theater present an invigorating, original work, showcasing the eclectic and rich music and dance traditions of Spain/Mexico. Zarzuela, Classical, Folkloric and Flamenco forms will be exquisitely performed in Aire y Gracia through dance, voice and live music, by a cast of 15 world-class artists.

Fascist Imperial Dogs 1 - Tree Loving Hippies 0- After all that protesting and dancing and carrot juice drinking, the Berkeley City Council chickened out and said they erred in passing that January resolution that disinvited a Marine recruiting station and called them "unwelcome intruders." In that resolution, they also allowed Code Pink permission to blast all sorts of things at the station, gave them a designated parking space in front of it, and permission to protest on Wednesdays from noon to 4 p.m. Why Wednesday? Because it’s Hump Day! They did, however, refuse to issue an apology and used part of their mea culpa to lash out at the Bush administration and the war. This didn't satisfy some conservatives as Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina introduced the "Semper Fi Act" which would redirect money to UC Berkeley and give it to the Southern Heritage Coalition so they can sew more flags with the Confederate flag in them. more ›

Image credit goes to artist Guy Buffet. more ›

Clinton takes it in New Hampshire. [Oakland Tribune]

Speaking of animal cruelty, the third chocolate bunny murder almost brought us to tears. Of laughter, sorrow, or both we're still not sure. more ›

-- Those rectangular glassy lofts on Folsom and Fourth Streets are, in fact, award-winning rectangular glassy lofts. Also, love the windows. [Curbed] more ›

New feature alert, folks! more ›

Sure Jager makes things all surreal, tequila makes you do things you normally wouldn't do, and whiskey makes things all sh---kicking but if you really want something that brings the crazy, there's absinthe. Absinthe was a drink popular at the turn of the last century but was banned supposedly for "making people insane" and by insane we mean too fin de siècle, you know-- into impressionism, dressing colorfully, chopping of one of their ears, and being gay. But now it's making a comeback, thanks to a heroic lawyer who got the prohibition in the U.S. revoked and thanks to that lawyer, a distillery in Alameda is going to start making some. Hell, if people thought they needed it to make it through the turn of the last century how do they expect us to make it through this turn of the century? more ›

-- Today is Yelp Day. How did you celebrate? Yeah, same here. (With all due respect to Yelp, Newsom will declare anything _____ Day these days, won't he?) [Eater SF] more ›

First off, we are not gamers. Our Mom decided, at a very young age, that gaming was evil and for the lazy. (Wtf! Right?) We've tried several times to get into it but it seems now that everyone can kick our ass. We hate losing, so we refrain to play but really it's all our Mom's fault. Damn you, parents. Now that we have that out of the way, gaming has become a huge... more ›

Did you hear? Surfer, skateboarder, artist, and occasional Paul Frank designer Thomas Campbell has a new show. This one, it seems, highlights his brand-spanking new work, which he describes as "surf-centric doodles, sculpture, photos, and sewn stuff." Raised as an Orange County "punk," he started out on the scene as part of the "bicoastal movement of street-smart artists who take their cues from underground culture." His rustically genuine work isn't featured here in SF... more ›

-- Why, it's our very own SFist Rita kicking it in the comfy confines (and breaking down the latest season of Project Runway) over at SFGate. Awesome. [Culture Blog] more ›

The loss of Simone in last week's episode of "Project Runway" leaves us with one local left to root for. (Although as Rita pointed out in her recap of the show, Jack went to U.C. Berkeley, so that kind of counts. But we'll see how well Chris does before we set our sights on him...) more ›

Sob. Dick Wilson (AKA Mr. Whipple) died today at 91. His message to the world? Simply this, "please, don't squeeze the Charmin." Born Riccardo DiGuglielmo, Wilson changed his name while working as an actor in efforts to avoid typecasting as an Italian-American. Little did he know that he would be typecast as America's favorite, um, cleanup enthusiast. Emigrating to the U.S. from England as wee lad, he went on to star in over 500... more ›

Phillyist prepared to party by doing the hustle, lighting the lights, shopping up a storm, and... visiting Khrushchev?
more ›

-- Comedy, Darling: Sleepover!: Mary Van Note hosts a new monthly underground talk and comedy show, where the stand-up is done in pajamas. Cute! Breaking the hymen of this monthly party is gangbang of hardcore comedic talent, featuring Brent Weinbach, Richard Kiss, Candy Churilla, Chris Garcia, and musical guest Jethro Jeremiah. The funny startsd at 8 p.m. at Edinburgh Castle; $8. more ›

And how might you observe Guy Fawkes Night here in San Francisco? Here are our suggestions: more ›

-- 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. more ›

-- Ross Mirkarimi, sole supe against Clear Channel. [SFBG] more ›

"A must for music lovers, musical comedy lovers, and in fact lovers of any sort," claims the Center for Sex & Culture about tonight's "Sex & Song". And, really, don't they deserve your love for one night? After all, they're trying to help you, um, love better. So head over to SOMA tonight for a show featuring some of your favorite sex-based music acts from around the Bay Area. Not only will there be titillating performances, but a post-show discussion centered around creating work based off the wonderful, simple act of sex. more ›

Bundles & Passages Series: Leaving Shanghai, 2006 more ›

Photo of people smoking in the park more ›

Last week's winner, the Bay Guardian. Tim Redmond says the Navy is the gayest armed services branch. Well, sure. Cars are worse than homeless people, says a letter writer. Halloween will suuuuuck. A former director of Intersection for the Arts died in a car crash. The new crackdown on homelessness, and why aren't people more upset? Cover article: Our pals at SwapSF make the cover! About the whole freetail trend! Yay SwapSF! (and other freegans!) Annalee Newitz loves to IM. This Woggles concert sounds like fun ("I go to a lot of shows where dudes in hoodies stand around, solemnly head-bobbing with their hands in their pockets" -- but the Woggles won't be one of those!) Okay, the band name Eat Skull caught our attention. Damon and Naomi are coming to town. Is a Chinese restaurant filled with non-white people really better than the other option? And L.E. Leone wishes she were an alcoholic. more ›