Pal of SFist Julian (star second-grader at Starr King's Mandarin Immersion program -- ni hao, Julian!) picked up this "queer" dollar bill last week at 26th and Harrison in the Mission. We recall receiving these bills as babysitting payment back in the '80s, and they make great gift-accessories for kids as well. But we had never before noticed how interesting the back of the $2 bill is compared to all the other paper U.S. currency,......

We perused the recent SFist post about the pitiable state of San Francisco's streets with a certain sense of nostalgia for the good ol' days. You know, the days before this newfangled "asphalt paving" even entered the scene. In the Year of the Gold Rush (1849-50ish), the city's population exploded from a cozy 500 citizens to almost 100 thousand -- and not a single one of those gold-crazed invaders wasted a second thinking the......

Oh my God, we're so there. If there was ever a reason to kick it over at the Bayview Hunters Point Multipurpose Senior Services, this would be it. Join us tomorrow in our quest for clinical obesity as we head over the the 27th Annual Black Cuisine Cooking Contest & Street Festival. We're not sure what to expect, exactly; the only noir-esque cuisine that comes to mind are peach cobbler, collard greens, and lots......

Good news: Translink will be up and running on Muni in the late fall/early winter of 2007. Or at least, that's what Muni said last year, and surprise! It's still not working. (And before that, it was January of 2007.) Translink is the work of a company called ERG, Ltd (emphasis on the "limited"); and in the decades (decades!) that it's been bandied about, lots of other cities have managed to set up Translinks......

In the middle part of the 19th century, a thick set of whiskers were an essential facial feature of every man of Victorian respectability. These were not simply expressions of pride or masculine peacock vanity, but due to a whole rainbow of reasons, ranging from the fact that Man had been created in God's image, to the "fact" that beards protected the wearer against tuberculosis, and even that shaving led to immorality, murder, and......

SFist worried over drugstore chain Walgreens celebration of Black History Month.Gothamist was surprised that apparently New York City is the fourth most miserable city in the country, after Detroit, Stockton, CA, and Flint, MI.Shanghaiist finds out what the Chinese think of Hilary and Obama.It was with a healthy amount of schadenfreude that Phillyist reported that former Eagle, and now Cowboy (ew), Terrell Owens owes the Eagles a significant wad of cash.Torontoist is two weeks......

Yesterday, the drug chain maneuvered through the choppy waters of bipartisan politics via Republican and Democrat Pez dispensers. Now they honor Black History Month, which starts today, by the way, with a barely squelched cotton-pickin' joke. You slay us, Walgreens. Credit: Nature abhors a vacuum......

Researching San Francisco history means spending way too much time sitting in the dark. In the library, we mean, staring at microfilm of old newspapers. Hours of scanning those scratched and blurry archives makes us a little punchy, so we blinked and rubbed our eyes at this gruesome headline from the February 13, 1902 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle. We wondered momentarily if it was a prescient comment on the state of contemporary......

Here at SFist, we have a general editorial policy of opposing everything; but we've looked, and there's just very little to dislike about "Family Appreciation Day." Except maybe the logo. Seriously, what font is that? It looks like something from a used car dealership. But aside from that, it's actually a pretty cool initative. Which is probably why Gavin's trying to take credit for it, as if he has now personally kissed every baby......

"Architecture of Density" -- Fox Plaza Apartments First, this a phenomenal shot, found in balmes' Flickr page. He or she managed to make crack towers look almost aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Really, a great picture. Second, "crack towers." As someone already mentioned in the comment section here, "some of those people up there must be clinically brain dead already to actually decide to live there." Close. replace "clinically" with "chemically" and you're in......

Well this isn't very timely. But still, another bit of inquisitive Friday fun! Although there are 8549027869056725 sites out there that ask and answer the same thing -- i.e., the shower scene in Psycho -- a (sort of) friend writes to SFist asking: What do you think is the scariest scene in movie history? Eh, why not? East: the scene in Cinderella where her stepsisters tear apart her pink gown right before the ball.......

The rock et roll pioneer and hardcore curmudgeon died today in San Marcos, San Diego. He made a name for himself when he discovered a young Tina Turner, and the rest is Academy Award-nominated history. Toward the end of his life, he was remorseful about his treatment of Tina. "I know what I am in my heart. And I know regardless of what I've done, good and bad, it took it all to make me what I am today." We hear you, Ike. We hear you....

Jesus Christ, this has sent us into a tailspin. While we can safely say that our biggest accomplishments in life thus far have been finding synonyms for the word "poop" and being able to thoroughly enjoy steak tartare, it seems that a few other driven, Type-A individuals have done more at our age. Much, much more. Behold what we should have done at this point on Earth: Amelia Earhart became the first woman to......

Carole Migden's girlfriend (OK then, "wife?" We refuse to use the sterile and patronizing "partner") Cris Arguedas, it seems, now must deal with yet another San Francisco diva: Barry Bonds. According to the Sacto Bee, the letter "h" eschewing lawyer "joined the defense team of baseball star Barry Bonds last week, as the long-time Sam Francisco Giant pleaded not guilty to charges of perjury." Arguedas is now part of a high-profile team that will......

Here's todays sports news...

Ah, today should be a citywide holiday, it really really should. December 5th marks the 74th anniversary of the end of Prohibition, just a tick of the geological clock since that final state (Utah, who else) grudgingly ratified the 21st Amendment. You couldn't really blame the Prohibitionists for their distaste for John Barleycorn. A flood of cheap corn whiskey in the early years of the nineteenth century changed the way an already soggy American......

-- Daly v. Newsom on the budget. Good stuff. [The Daly Blog] -- Vodka for everyone! Russian company buys LiveJournal. [The Snitch] -- Friday night is dope night. [BeyondChron] -- Andrew Cohen on the SFPD (one year later.) [InsidetheSFPD] -- Tahoe's isn't easy being green. [Curbed SF] -- How to make a tiny top hat. For your head. No, not that one, perv. [SFBG] -- Why, Tim Goodman has a personal blog now. Who'd a......

Yup, "the Paris of the West". It's a phrase that's been liberally applied to our fair city, perhaps most notably when the mayor of the Paris of, um, "France", arrived in San Francisco last November to commemorate the 10th anniversary of our "Sister Cities" agreement. Never heard it? A quick Googling brings up a hefty 7500 matches, and as the scanning of turn-of-the-century tomes marches forward, that number will certainly increase. But to the......

-- Cinewhores Present Midnight Cowboy (1970): Although tame by today's smut-filled standards -- oh, you heard right! -- Midnight Cowboy has the distinction of being the only X-rated film to have ever snagged the Best Picture at the Academy Awards. The film -- about the friendship between Joe, a rookie New York City hustler, and Ratso, a terminally-ill New Yorker -- is prefaced by a reading by queer author Kirk Read. (Oh, and Sylvia......

While it's no new thing for rock bands to come out with their own movies, they've definitely gotten more dramatic. Two films (that couldn't be on more opposite ends of the cinematic concert-film spectrum, if you ask us) are showing in the next two weeks: Sigur Rós' Heima (Icelandic for "Home" or "Homeland") and Daft Punk's Electroma. While Heima is more your traditional rockumentary (see band play. See band play in nice locations.), Electroma......

Chenery House owner, colorful San Francisco ad man, and entrepreneur Bob Pritikin bought Hitler's globe this week for a cool $100,000. The globe, snatched fom Hitler's desk in the ruins of his Eagle's Nest retreat, was found by WWII U.S. soldier John Barsamian and put up for auction this week in San Francisco. Now, before you go labeling Pritiklin an anti-Semite, this man is character -- a true collector and unique hoarder. His home......

We came across this wonderful blind item over at ValleyWag (via Overheard in the Office). It seems that someone on the Board of Supes doesn't know the difference between a placeholder name and their signature, euphemistically. Do you know who it was? We're going to go ahead sweepingly generalize that it was either Ammiano or Dufty, because gays only care about little boys and baggies, shiny objects, and unicorns. Council member: I heard you......

The Brothers Green -- San Francisco Supervisors Chris Daly and Ross Mirkarimi spoke to a large and enthusiastic crowd at the 2007 Green Festival. GreenFestival 2007 is now in the history books. See some photos and some noteworthy exhibits after the jump.......

-- Comedy, Darling: Sleepover!: Mary Van Note hosts a new monthly underground talk and comedy show, where the stand-up is done in pajamas. Cute! Breaking the hymen of this monthly party is gangbang of hardcore comedic talent, featuring Brent Weinbach, Richard Kiss, Candy Churilla, Chris Garcia, and musical guest Jethro Jeremiah. The funny startsd at 8 p.m. at Edinburgh Castle; $8. -- M.I.A.: "Get crackin' get get crackin'/Get crackin' get get crackin'" [horny horns].......

And how might you observe Guy Fawkes Night here in San Francisco? Here are our suggestions:...

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. Standouts: 1. Nicole Atkins - Neptune City: This New Jersey native, reaches down deep to relate stories of her hometown, Neptune City on her debut release. "From the time I was a kid I started collecting these sad little tragically beautiful personal stories from the people in my life, and my own as well. That sense of history really appeals......

We caught Phil Setzer, the violinist for the Emerson String Quartet, being driven down between performances in Santa Barbara and Orange County. We hope it was in a stretch limo, as these guys have won eight Grammy awards and critical acclaim everywhere they go. They are the only chamber music group to ever win a best classical album grammy, and they even got two. So they better travel like the rock stars they are. They'll......

We saw this last night. As far as we can tell, that monster branch just cracked right off from the tree above. What knocked it off? Unlike some places, we're not suffering from high winds right now. Whatever the cause, we're just glad we weren't in that crosswalk when it came down. Bonus question: where was this? SFist readers, this context-less nighttime photo might be the hardest "locate it" in SFist history...take a guess......

Migden, Leno, Peskin, Daly, Herrera all were on the scene at one point or another, and tempers flared. Why? Because Carole Migden stole the show (along with a hefty endorsement) at last night's Harvey Milk Club meeting. ...

Pierre-Laurent Aimard will play Beethoven's piano concerto No. 3 with the SF Symphony Thursday at Flint in Cupertino, and Friday and Saturday at Davies, led by 33yo Swiss conducting prodigy Philippe Jordan. The pair will go to New-York in December to perform the same piece with the NY Phil, and you can find a little video clip of Pierre-Laurent describing the concerto here. So you now can picture him and his delightful French accent when......