Got that parapluie? The Chron reports that the skies are going to open up starting tomorrow, with not one, not two, but three separate weather systems barreling on in from Alaska. They're expecting 2-4 inches of rain in the city, possibly up to 8 inches in the hills, and a "paralyzing" amount of snow in the Sierras. There's also the possibility of flooding, so if your house is prone to it, pick up some free sandbags at the DPW yard on Cesar Chavez and right before the 101 N onramp (2323 Cesar Chavez). Friday is supposed to be the worst day, anyways, so plan ahead. (though it always seems when we actually plan for rain, it turns out to be a beautiful day.) more ›

Tower Records is officially donezo as it's closing up it's stores in the area. That's the bad news. The good news is that all of this means EVERYTHING MUST GO! THESE PRICES ARE INSANE!!!! Which is another way of saying they're having a liquidation sale. more ›

Did anyone go see G n F'n R last night? Guns N' Roses, we mean. Apparently they're rocking the Warfield for two nights with opener Sebastian Bach. Our younger self is dying inside because this was our dream concert about 12 years ago, and here we are writing about music and somehow we don't have tickets. If you went, please tell us about the show in the comments so that we can all live vicariously. more ›

Well, we'll tell you right now to use a pencil and not a pen to write this upcoming date down -- supposedly, Guns N Roses (in this incarnation: yes Axl, no Slash) have announced two dates at the Warfield next month, on Sept. 20 and 21, and the tickets ($75 a pop) are slated to go on sale this Sunday, August 20. more ›

LAist has so much fun this week! They go to E3, where they overhear the timeless remark "Man, this is where nerdy girls get laid." Is that a promise? They also give us this week's best CDs and make us realize that LA is the best place to use Zillow. more ›

It's all about good causes here at SFist. And while we're not sure if they really qualifies as a good cause, it's certainly a funny one. Matt Stewart is planning a wedding, and what really makes a for a rockin' reception is a good band. Being the superfan that he is, he thinks that he's offering a primo opportunity for fabulous publicity to one of the most enigmatic musicians of our time -- Axl Rose. From his introductory letter to Axl:

[W]ould there be a better way for you to jumpstart the new incarnation of Guns N’ Roses than by performing at a fan’s wedding, taking a dance or two with grandma, drinking a couple glasses of champagne, and vanishing into the night? It would pretty much be the greatest PR move in the history of civilization, and would immediately endear you and the band to millions of fans. Especially me.

This is how it works: newspaper or news show, you know the evil MSM, does a story riddled with factual inaccuracies. The story then out there, bloggers go wild, give cries of (depending on one's political affiliation) "liberal bias"/"corporate cave in", and demand scalp. Retraction is given, mistakes acknowledged, scalp proffered, and bloggers do victory dance. So it's time for bloggers' powers to activate. On the way into work, we were reading the Chron's Peter Hartlaub's otherwise highly enjoyable piece on used CDs and how they can reclaim one's cheesy musical past, something we could definitely relate to, when we looked at the accompanying photos of the cheesy musical past he is reclaiming. Shown are cds of Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell", Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet," and Guns N' Roses mighty "Use Your Illusion II." But it's not what he listed that got our goat, it's the captions. Because he has "Rebel Yell" coming out in 1990, "Slippery" in 1999 (!), and "Use Your Illusion II" as coming out in 1997. Great googly moogly! more ›