MUSIC: Get a glimpse at the West Coast dark synthy-gothy pop/rock scene with Portland's Soft Kill (ex-Blessure Grave) and Dangerous Boys Club (mems. of Antioch Arrow, Glass Candy), along with Group Hex and DJ Night School (Nathan from The Gossip). more ›

MUSIC: The darling young Yoshida Brothers, masters of the ancient tsugaru-shamisen, reinvent traditional Japanese folk music with the addition of modern pop, rock, and world music sensibilities. The bros. will be at Yoshi's through Thursday. more ›

ART: StreetSmARTS celebrates the completion of their pilot-program murals with a Community Extravaganza, curated by Infin8 Sync, a resource for independent artists in the Bay Area. The event will feature food, live muraling, a DJ, B-Boy competition, and a film screening. more ›

In honor of the board game's 60th anniversary, the crookedest street in the U.S. was transformed into the sweetest board game around. Here are some shots from today's Candy Land on Lombard Street. SFist's Ted Weinstein, who was live on the scene, reports that today's event was commercial yet charming, and the kids really loved it. "Capitalism meets childhood," he told us. more ›

In honor of the board game's 60th anniversary, San Francisco's Lombard Street will get a sweet makeover on Wednesday. (Heh.) The crooked street will transform into a giant Candyland board. According to SF Appeal, "The street will be closed to traffic as children from the University of California, San Francisco Children's Hospital participate in the game as colored game pieces and interact with life-sized game characters, according to organizers." (Why do only children get to play?! Bah. Nevertheless, it still sounds seriously awesome.) The game, introduced in 1849, was designed by Eleanor Abbott, while she was recovering from polio. Candyland's first ads promised parents that the game fulfilled "the sweet tooth yearning of the younger set without the tummy ache aftereffects." Some alterations to modern versions of the game include changing the name of Queen Frostine is Princess Frostine, which is stupid, and renaming Molasses Swamp to Chocolate Swamp, which makes sense because no normal child should know what molasses is. Wednesday's event will also feature a big party and delicious cake. more ›

Perturbed parents groups are demanding answers from Apple after it approved, then dumped, a new 'Baby Shaker' app for the iPhone. The game, which delightfully promoted infanticide for $.99 on Monday, was described by its maker, Sikalosoft, like this: "On a plane, on the bus, in a theater. Babies are everywhere you don't want them to be! They're always distracting you from preparing for that big presentation at work with their incessant crying. Before Baby Shaker there was nothing you could do about it." more ›