(Harvard.) In an imaginary world where San Francisco neighborhoods are represented by stars’ hairstyles, the Marina is Bryan Ferry – artfully coiffed, with a subtle smattering of muss to keep the wispy-haired skeptics on their toes. Bay St. between Broderick and Baker, on the western edge of the Marina, embodies this aesthetic as well as any residential block in the district. Since nothing remotely unusual appears to happen here much – short of the odd cataclysmic earthquake and subsequent fire (see: October 1989) – it’s up to the block’s architecture, immaculately trimmed foliage, and occasional through-walker to provide a bit of Blocker-style backbone. Otherwise, we’re relegated to a piece about all the college alumni license plate frames and window decals slapped on cars parked along this street. Not such an enticing slant....

-- Watch out, SF. Last night's armed robbery spree shakes up, shakes down residents. [SF Crime, SFGate] -- Ding, ding: bike rally at City Hall. [Left in SF] -- Your Contemporary Jewish Museum. [Curbed] -- At Harvard U seasons change, feelings change. [Beyond Chron] -- "Come on feel the Noyes." [I'll Flip You] -- Top Bay Area noisemakers of 2007. [SFBG] -- This morning's police chase/fatal accident killed two, including Benjamin Bratt's nephew, Kristopher.......

Seattlest watches as a S.L.U.T. is born and Seattle Flickr users go nuts over a local art installation. A restaurant critic demands a Diner's Bill of Rights over a gnat next to her drink, and, in lieu of a Portlandist, Seattlest debates with itself over the identity of the Northwest's crown jewel. Seattlest also joins the guys from Fantagraphics for an ill-fated gun party in the woods. LAist saw national headlines soar this week with......

Bad series of news items for the SFPD -- the rookie cop who accidentally shot himself at a party earlier this month when trying to demonstrate tips on gun safety was legally drunk (just barely), and that cop, Jesse Serna, who keeps (allegedly) beating up people like Barry Bonds' trainer and Willie Brown's friends in North Beach just got the city sued again, this time for beating up a doctor starting his residency at Harvard......

Hey, everyone loves a list, right? Especially those ranking institutions of higher learning. The yearly U.S. News & World Report list is out -- any wagers on how local schools did? And, really, how much would it affect your choices? We remember mulling the 1991 list saying "can't get in there, can't get in there, nope, not there either . . ." But it's still fun to see how stuff measures up, we suppose. Unshockingly, Stanford University was high on the list, reaching No. 4 this year, undoubtedly driving the next generation of Azia Kims....

-- Power outages enrage your editor, city dwellers. [Chron, KGO] -- Bang, bang: SF Supes okay with handguns. [KPIX] -- Aging journalism fetishist and noted lover of the way old books smell, Frances Dinkelspiel, misguidedly and "ethereally" derides the Chronicle's hiring of former SFist editor Eve Batey. [GhostWorldWord] -- Top-drawer Harvard fisticuffs, darling: Facebook sued by its old college chums. [Chron] -- Trash talk to resume Wednesday morning. Grrrrul, please. [KRON 4] -- Great......

There's so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it's almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don't have to! Londonist took a walk through Oliver Twist's London, thanks to a gorgeous map layer for Google Earth. They also caught up with modern-day fictional London, with the Fantastic Four and 28 Weeks Later. It was a week of insanity over at DCist. They started the week off with......

A photo of Phil Ting's press conference about the S.F. Solar Task Force. ...

We have been totally obsessed with Harvard sophomore Kaavya Viswanathan's Opal Mehta woes. Every day, we would think, Bostonist is so lucky. Isn't there any connection here to the Bay Area? Well, now we have one! And for our Assembly District 12 Ma v. Ja column, no less! State legislator (and former child actor) Sheila Kuehl has accused Janet Reilly of plagiarizing Kuehl's health care proposal and claiming it was her (Reilly's) own. Get Kissed......

Filmmaker Georgia Lee dropped out of Harvard Business School to make movies. That must rank right up there with biting your fingernails and dating a felon as one of the all time best ways to torture your mother. Fear not Mrs. Lee, Georgia seems like she's doing okay. A short film she directed while at NYU film school was spotted by Martin Scorsese who took her under his wing during the shooting of Gangs of......

First, a little politics. Nancy Pelosi calls for the declassification of her memo to the administration regarding secret surveillance of American citizens. Ann Harrison has an exhaustive first-person account on the recent medical marijuana dispensary raids. Executive Editor Chris Lopez softens the "Wiretap Scandal" headline at the Contra Costa Times. And Dan Gillmore is going non-profit and creating a Center for Citizen Journalism along with Cal Berkeley and Harvard, causing some to ask whither......

After being blamed for the re-election of W., made a virtual pariah in the Democratic Party, and befriended by Angelina Jolie all for letting a few gay people marry, you would think that the Gavster would go quietly into that good night on the issue. After all, there’s nothing the Democratic Party hates more than some Democrat standing on principles and scaring off all those Red State types. Turns out he’s not going quietly. In fact, he has been pumping up both the jams and the volume on the issue. In the past week, he gave a speech at Harvard where he called out his fellow Democrats and yesterday, totally dissed New York Mayor Bloomberg over Hizzoner’s little problem with the issue....

...and this time, at least, that's what we want to hear. John at the Legal Reader points to a piece quoting Terry Gross, partner in San Francisco-based Gross & Belsky LLP, who contends that Apple's case against ThinkSecret blogger and Harvard student Nick Ciarelli is completely without merit. Apple counters that "Apple's DNA is innovation, and the protection of our trade secrets is crucial to our success." They accuse Ciarelli of 'inducing' someone to violate......

It was so hot this weekend, all EssEffist did was huddle on our bed and read books in the dark, books we got from Bay Area local bookstores and reserved from the San Francisco Public Library....

Boo yeah! San Francisco's repping large on this season's Apprentice -- with not one, not two, but three 415 area contestants vying for the affection of Donald Trump....