All serious writers who review Die Fledermaus make bad puns and comparisons: Johan Strauss ' operetta, which contains a few songs to "King Champagne," is like champagne, it is fizzy and bubbly and sparkly and easy to ingest and you come out inebriated. It also contains an aria called "Chacun à son gout," French for to each his own taste. Gosh, what a hook for a reviewer to hang his coat. Some will like it, some might not, chacun à son gout! more ›

Is Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein the new Jerry Seinfeld? Every year, he steps on the stage of the SF Opera in the Park, which the Chron generously helps produce. And people are semi-drunk on chardonnay, satiated on taboule and tomato-and-mozarella salads, they are baking in the sun: they are warmed up already. Yet every year, Phil's attempts to warm up the crowd even more end up in a train wreck. Here are this year's jokes (transcribed by us as honestly as we could), and we'll let you be the judge: more ›