The maker of those little tree-shaped air fresheners you find dangling from rear view mirrors have sued Gap Inc. over Old Navy's use of the iconic image in a t-shirt, emblazoned with the slogan "Keeping it Fresh." The federal lawsuit, according to the Examiner, was brought against the local retail mammoth in U.S. District Court in Syracuse, N.Y. The company, simply titled Car-Freshener Corporation of Watertown, claims that "the design on the T-shirts is......

Oh my God, you guys, no way. Get this: the New York Post was wrong. What's next: Intelligent Design? Celebrity weddings? Our meth-induced epiphanies that the CIA, in cahoots with the Norteños, are reading our emails and listening in on our phone calls? See, it seems that "[n]o slingshots have been found" and that the NY Post was wrong. And we refuse to believe anything Rupert Murdoch-related is less than perfect. Thankfully, according to......

If you haven't made it to the Curiosity Shoppe yet, what are you waiting for? It's one of our new favorite shops on Valencia Street. After having an e-commerce site for a year we were thrilled to hear that owners Lauren Smith and Derek Fagerstrom were setting up a brick and mortar spot in our fair city. Not only do we adore the choice of products for sale in the shop, we're big fans......

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...) At the beginning of the episode we were put through the always boring selection-of-the-models ritual. This could be a......

Judging by the audiences' volatile reactions, She Wants Revenge did everything in their power to give the audience what they wanted: a spectacle (with some music). About half-way through their hour and a half set, a fight erupted. (This isn't the first time, we hear, that fights have started at one of their shows.) The lead singer, Justin Warfield asked, "Can't we all just get along?" and then continued singing their synth-pop Depeche Mode influenced......

After screwing up mandated drug tests and failing to report the severity of the oil spill in a timely fashion, as of this morning Coast Guard Captain William Uberti is out. And an experienced specialist in oil SNAFUs, Capt. Paul Gugg, is in. According to the Chronicle, Gugg, 49, has "has crafted spill regulations and response plans in Washington, D.C., and helped design emergency tactics after the catastrophic 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska."......

We've been a big fan of Willo O'Brien's design work for several years now. She's got the chops to hang with the code geeks, but she's also a hell of an illustrator, drawing funny animals like bass playin' polar bears, ice skating bunnies...and you should see what she can do with a pumpkin. We usually run into her at shows, but when we heard she was branching out and had launched her own line of......

Photo of an ugly bay area bus stop...

What would Batman and Robin think? With its chic industrial/gothic design, the new “market hall” style Whole Foods that opened recently near Lake Merritt in Oakland certainly could be used for a set on the next Batman flick. (Note: we won’t be defending or condemning the corporation itself here. We instead refer you to Mark Morford’s sharp analysis of the friendly giant.) We wish we’d known about the opening day festivities, what with an......

The Mission's an interesting place to screen a movie about gentrification, filmed from the eyes of the gentrifier -- so there was certainly no shortage of things to think about at last night's showing of New Urban Cowboy for DocFest at the Roxie. New Urban Cowboy is a documentary about Michael Arth, a kind of hippie-dippie former resident of Santa Barbara who moves to the small town of Deland, Florida, near Orlando, and more......

Man, what a day for us to get swamped at our day job! We missed the Ed Jew plea bargain, the resignation requests in the mayoral staff ranks, and the mayoral candidate arrested outside Ed Jew's "house." SFist Brock, though, was kind enough to leave us one story, though, which is Matier and Ross's reportage of Sunday that someone sent a vewwwy vewwy mean ol' postcard mailer out about Gavin Newsom's record (pictured above).......

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....

Here's todays sports news...

As you know, we are certainly not vegan ourselves. But, some days, maybe we want a nice plate of veggies, prepared by people who only eat veggies and therefore understand that more options exist than just steamed. People who might even try to be innovative with their vegetables-only lifestyle. Plus, since we're pregnant, we tend to be even more interested in eating veggies lately, not for ourselves, of course -- if it were up......

We've been talking so much about the Chronicle and the SF Weekly lately that perhaps one of our best-known local pubs is feeling a bit ignored. Editor & Publisher Magazine has published a feature spotlighting "10 That Do It Right." E&P selects a new list every summer from the nation's daily and weekly newspapers. E&P says it's not a "Top 10" list, but rather "a hat tip to a variety of publications which have, through excellence or innovation, shown the way in one area or another, such as news coverage, circulation, design, diversity or online."...

Maybe it's because we're fascinated by its garish, antique iMac-y design more than what it claims to do -- explicably, we still have faith in visiting NextBus -- but something like this would be ideal for bedrooms and offices all across SF. The alarm clock indicates all of Tokyo’s major train arrival/departure times all while getting your sleepy ass out of bed. What won’t the Japanese think of next? Reader and contributor Ted, who......

We're startled to report that Muni has, in a surprising and awesome display of openness, decided to make public a ton of information regarding their ongoing Choose-Your-Own-Shelter-Adventure. Check out the reams of dataz they've just posted online -- it's all there: facts! Figures! Feedback! And we do mean feedback. They've just posted every single public comment they received, and boy howdy did they get a lot of comments. (Profanity, you'll be relieved to hear,......

There's two stories about BART today and while they have nothing in common, both are still noteworthy. So we'll start with the bad then move to the good. ...

We've been big fans of Good Magazine since their premier issue came out last fall. We love the inspiring stories they cover and the ways they present them -- graphics, design, and concept are given as much weight as the words. We also love that the staff is predominantly made up of young people -- much younger than we are, we might add. (Incidentally, bad-boy Al Gore III is the associate publisher.) Some recent,......

Well that certainly was lively, wasn't it? Our post about the proposal to shoot SF with a Los-Angeles-gun by adding parking to the city (and subtracting everything else) attracted tons of comments, with some very well-put arguments on both sides of the issue. Time to channel that energy into Real Life, if you can bear to leave your wretched computer: SPUR is hosting a Transportation Committee meeting to discuss the initiative! It's happening Monday,......

Everyone knows the Saturday of Pride Weekend is the Dyke March! Put on your motorcycle helmet and take off your top. The theme this year (for the 15th anniversary) is "Healthcare for All," so there's going to be a mammogram truck on site, as well as the usual diverse array of religions, performers, and peoples. The rally and stage show starts at 3 at Dolores Park; the women go marching at 7. Other events:......

We're all for technology that simplifies and informs, but sometimes we see a new service that sounds a little silly to us. eWine Match allows you to text message an ingredient or cuisine type to a very easy-to-remember number (411511); the service will respond with a few options that'd fit....

SF Improv Fest kicks off tonight with Emo Phillips, performing with Bassprov and 3 For All, at the Buriel Clay Theatre. Get tickets in advance here. Show starts at 8pm, 762 Fulton St, SF. Movie night in Dolores Park! Show up early to participate in a clap-off to determine whether Hitchcock's M for Murder or Vincent Price's House of Wax will be shown. 8pm, Dolores Park (20th and Dolores). Gama-go, a SF-based design company......

Look! Just like we promised -- to celebrate the Frameline GLBT film fest, we're giving away free passes throughout the festival (running June 14-24). Your first giveaway, for you and a guest? To the Opening Night screening and party! The Opening Night movie is The Witnesses, a French movie set in 1984, about four people whose lives are touched by AIDS, and starring an ensemble cast featuring Emmanuelle Beart. Sounds like Angels in America,......

Hey, you like fonts, right? Of course you do. Where would we be without fonts? scribbling away like ancient cavepeople, that's where. So let's all go to this celebration next week of not-being-cavepeople: FiFFteen, an exhibition of fonts and fun. And wine and snacks! Here's a blurb: FiFFteen is an exhibit celebrating the 15th anniversary of the FontFont [FF] type library. ... From legible sans serifs to handwriting fonts and mega type families with......

Drinking and shopping? Sounds harmless! Or does it....? Find out for yourself at GenArt's first SF spring shopping event. Over 40 local vendors are offering discounted wares for the ladies and the fellows, with a fashion show, bevvys and music. 6-10pm, $10 for non-members. ShopSF at the Galleria, San Francisco Design Center, 101 Henry Adams St., SF. Fe in the Desert, a new play by Jessica Hagedorn about a woman struggling to make sense......

The only thing we love more than shopping and cocktails is shopping while sipping cocktails. (Of course, we've made many poor shopping decisions while under the influence, but that's besides the point.) ...

A handbill advertising a bikerelated event...

Some interesting developments coming out of Facebook's F8 conference at the SF Design Center today. It's all just a bit over our heads, but it looks like the site's working on ways to open up its tools to indie developers, so you can make apps and widgets and doodads that users can plug into their data. Developers are looking forward to a hackathon is happening this weekend. So, nerdy readers, what are you going......

We know you're inundated with craft fairs these days. And while we're not complaining either, once in a while we want something a little different, which is why we're excited about the Maven Fair happening this Saturday in San Francisco. Maven Fair is described as an urban design and craft fair devoted exclusively to promoting the work of women artists, with a special emphasis on emerging women of color designers. The fair promises to bring innovative, quirky and exquisite goods, one of a kind jewelry, housewares, baby goods, accessories and clothes and judging from the sneak peak of what will be on sale they aren't lying. Could we pull off wearing this eyehand necklace? We're not really sure, but we love the weathered look of it and it's so very different than all the charm necklaces we're seeing around these days. We're also fans of these bingo bobby pins, made from vintage bingo playing pieces, created by the organizer of the fair you can also by them at her online shop, The Weekend Store. But maybe you just want something simple and pretty for mom? Looks like there will be lots of simple and pretty in the form of earrings, necklaces and tote bags. Maven Fair is this Saturday, May 12th from 11am-4pm at 1021 Sanchez street. ...