SFist Memoirs is beyond honored to be featuring the magnanimous Pat Montandon this week and next. Fans of San Francisco high society and local history in general are likely already very familiar with Pat and her unlimited arsenal of Bay Area stories, many of which were documented in her memoir, Oh The Hell of It All. more ›

Continuing with SFist Memoirs' tradition of featuring spouses' back-to-back stories, we present Anthony Gordon, Loquat's bass player and husband to Kylee Swenson Gordon. Anthony took our request to hear stories about aspects of San Francisco that no longer exist very seriously and with very comic effect. Loquat is celebrating the release of their new album, We Could Be Arsonists, with a party at The Independent on Friday. Win tickets over at FunCheapSF! more ›

This week's SFist Memoirs begins in the early 1990s with Kylee Swenson Gordon, who is one of the founding members of the long-time, S.F. band, Loquat. Kylee's first San Francisco experiences as a young small-town girl from Minnesota served as an impressive crash-course in rock 'n' roll, helping to shape her into the music veteran that she is today. more ›

This weekend, it's dogs galore at Duboce Park, cherry blossom central in Japantown, bike and pedestrian wonderland throughout Golden Gate Park and along Great Highway, and music aplenty at USF. more ›

Disgraced GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum claimed earlier this week that the University of California is responsible for ruining this country because they don't teach American history. This, of course, isn't true. All UC schools offer American history courses except for UCSF, the college system's noted medical school. (They do, however, offer a History of Medicine and Health Sciences course!) Last night, Stephen Colbert took on Santorum's latest inane claim, telling us exactly from where Rick pulled his facts. Behold: more ›

Reader Jayn Pettingill brings us another great piece this week about her Great Aunt Maye and Maye's husband Tony Lazzeri, a major league baseball player — most notably of the New York Yankees. Both Maye and Tony were San Francisco natives who grew up in the Sunset and Cow Hollow respectively. Be sure to check out Jayn's story from last week! We hope there are many more to come. more ›

This week's SFist Memoirs comes to us from reader Jayn Pettingill, who is a fourth generation San Franciscan as well as an accomplished saxophonist and composer. In this fabulous piece, Jayn introduces us to her uncle, a jazz-loving policeman in the 1950s, who worked a night beat in the Fillmore District on occasion. This is our first reader submission, which we hope will inspire more readers to drop us a line! more ›

This week, we continue with Eric Becker's stories, which delve into the late '80s/early '90s, in which Eric picks a fight with James Hetfield, goes against popular opinion regarding Anton of Brian Jonestown Massacre, and tells of an account in which he had syringes thrown at him on stage with his band The Big Sissy Brigade at the Cactus Club. Plus, more! more ›

Today's SFist Memoirs is set in the late '80s hard core punk scene, as told by Eric Becker, husband of Rene Becker, last week's SFist Memoirs contributor. Eric has quite the knack for winding up in interesting, movie script-like situations, such as attending a GBH/Stevie Stiletto show and a Chinese supperclub in the same night and experiencing an altered state amidst a swarm of rollerbladers and meeting "that one girl from that one band." Luckily for us, he's a great storyteller, and we're featuring him in two parts. So, stay tuned for part two next week! more ›

This week's SFist Memoirs takes us to the East Bay in the early 1990s, as contributor Rene Becker shares some coming-of-age stories from her time as a teenager throwing spaghetti at Blatz at the 924 Gilman, smoking weed on Telegraph Avenue, and most importantly, giving Mr. Bungle's Mike Patton a piggy-back ride on stage. Rene moved to Albany from Sacramento at age twelve and lives in San Francisco now. Take it away, Rene! more ›

In honor of the big Warren Hellman tribute concert happening on Sunday, the schedule of which you can find over at SF Weekly, we've invited Corie Woods to talk about her experience as an avid fan who's attended every installment of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival since its inception in 2001, oftentimes throwing her birthday party there. more ›

SFist is beginning a new series in which Bay Area natives and long-time residents can share their stories from bygone eras. Our inaugural story comes from Bev DeBeaumont Warnecke, who worked at Baruh Wholesale Liquors in the late '50s, a job that gained her a unique view into the social lives of elite Bay Area business owners. Take it away, Bev! Warning: The last photo in the gallery is not suitable for work (NSFW). more ›

SF Sketchfest presents Comedy Noir's The XXX Factor: The Ultimate Dirty Joke Competition told via the troupe's trademark "Mockulebrity/ Impersonafacations," followed by... more ›

FILM: The "fascinating and even-handed documentary," Cleanflix, explores the world of the backroom entrepreneurs in Utah who clean-up racy Hollywood films to suit the puritanical Mormon community, resulting in "twists, turns and a sex scandal that surely would disqualify it from rental shelves around Salt Lake City." (7pm and 9p.m., Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street) more ›

The decades tick on, but the nation's fascination with and collective grief for John F. Kennedy's assassination remains constant, even today as we mark the 48th anniversary. Above you can see a stabilized version of the famed Zapruder film, still the best document we have of the event -- a fact which in itself is mind-boggling, given how a Presidential appearance these days would be shot from every angle, by fifty or eighty news outlets, not to mention every bystander's cell phone camera. more ›

Documentary filmmaker Michael Stabile, who chronicled San Francisco's birth as the Smut Capital of America in a short film last year — and who has brought us amazing archival footage of Dianne Feinstein railing against porn and took us on a tour of The Magazine on Polk Street — publishes a piece today in the Bold Italic about the often amazing things he's found while digging around in the dusty archives of our local GLBT Historical Society. He's working on a full-length feature, you see, about the life of Chuck Holmes — the founder of pioneering gay porn studio Falcon, and the namesake of S.F.'s LGBT Center Charles Holmes Campus. more ›

In our capacity as head of an agency that delivers pertinent pigeon dispatches, allow us to remind you that on this day in 1914, the last known passenger pigeon--named Martha, after George Washington’s wife--died in captivity in Cincinnati, Ohio. more ›

FILM: The Red Devil Lounge has a weekly cure for the Monday blues with their ongoing free movie screenings. This week's film is the classic family flick, The Goonies, starring Sean Astin, Josh Brolin and Corey Feldman. (7 p.m., Red Devil Lounge, 1695 Polk Street) more ›

Another locally-owned, neighborhood theater bites the dust today. The Haight-Ashbury's beloved Red Vic is set to close its doors for good after tonight's final screening of the endearingly morbid Hal Ashby classic, Harold and Maude. Naturally, both shows are sold out. more ›

This week, the Tenderloin Geographic Society investigates the first time a mayor who didn't really want to job ended up in office and how a Steamboat captain spent two terms presiding over the city. more ›

MUSIC: Aesop Rock and Kimya Dawson bring their collaborative sound, which might be described as "folk-hop" to the Independent tonight, along with Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz. (8 p.m., The Independent, 628 Divisadero Street) more ›

Oaklandish reports that on this day, May 4, in 1852, the California state legislature incorporated the town of Oakland. Previously, according to Oaklandnet,com, the "hamlet" was previously known as Contra Costa and consisted of just 75 people. more ›

FILM: Werner Herzog tells the true story of The Enigma of Kasper Hauser, one of his most compelling films, about a young man who had been held captive in a dungeon his whole life and was mysteriously left in a square in Nuremberg in 1828, unable to speak or walk, and bearing a strange note. A non-actor, Bruno S., was chosen to play Kasper, delivering a mesmerizing performance. more ›