With Thanksgiving a little over a week away, and before we list the top restaurants for turkey dinners, remember that the SF Food Bank needs you help. With over 300 tons of food (!) moved through their warehouse every week, this fine local organization needs assistance sorting and packaging meals for distribution. And it's so easy too! With no lengthy orientation or major time commitment, you'll be working in a well-organized project right on......

When some of us were still young boys but already chronic insomniacs, we began to demonstrate a talent for obsessive list making. While some precocious and intelligent children stayed up past their bedtimes reading The Red Badge of Courage under the covers with a flashlight, we spent those wee hours making never-ending lists of things that we desired with an all-consuming passion: rooms filled with trampolines, shopping sprees at K.B. Toys (we were obsessed with the idea of having a shopping spree anywhere, really; it could have been at Sears for all we cared), comprehensive psychoanalysis--- the list literally went on and on....

Did you know the Home for Halloween campaign, the effort to get unsavory elements out of the Castro during Halloween night, is still in effect? It is. And their site -- which features a concerned, bejeweled black man all aghast, paired with a selection of autumnal squashes -- will tell you that the Castro is a no-go this year. Why, they even have a blog, called the "Boo-Blog," which tells you why staying home......

As we mentioned last March, Halloween in the Castro as you knew it has been canceled. Boo. The City's official Halloween celebration will instead move to SOMA in the parking lot of AT&T Park. It seems this year's bash will "include an early evening, free gathering for kids and a more adult-friendly, paid event later in the evening, which will feature local musicians and artists." The Entertainment Commission, sigh, is also looking to put on......

While only nine cities in the Bay Area allowed to sell "safe and sane" fireworks (i.e., sparklers, fountains, snakes, and flowers [psst, you can totally turn the latter into a mini bottle rocket by drilling a small hole in the end of the cylinder]), one of those cities, Watsonville, might curb their fiery Fourth of July fun. According to the Merc, a ban on the sale of fireworks in Watsonville might take place since......

Today, June, Friday the 13, is National Pigeon Day. Yay! While some of you detest one of "nature's most successful creatures," today we stand up for the adorable little winged creatures. After all, they've done everything from helping "soldiers behind enemy lines" to providing fecal-based comic relief. How to celebrate? Well, New York Times suggests reading The Pigeon, a 667-page encyclopedia devoted to the creature, or by feeding one. And we totally agree! But......

What with Halloween colliding on a Friday this year -- fuuuuuck -- the city of San Francisco has wasted no time, so to speak, in attempting to look like it's trying to make the holiday a spooktacular event again. Laura Fraenza, 45, New Jersey native and ballet enthusiast who has worked with Bill Graham Presents and Cirque Du Soleil, was just hired as SF's new Events Coordinator. But that title is a bit broad;......

Better than a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow or a bowl brimming with Lucky Charms, crack retailers in Marietta, Ohio, dyed their cocaine rocks a festive green for St. Patrick's Day this year. OMG, fun! The Smoking Gun has the full report and mugshots galore, going on to say: Asked by TSG if he had ever seen drugs marketed in such a fashion, Mincks said that several years ago some......

Have a fun, festive, and frivolous Sunday on this, the day of resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. (Or not.) Be sure to hit up the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence's party in Dolores Park. Those wacky girls have a Best Bonnet Contest (1 p.m.), a Hunky Jesus Competition (3 p.m.), music, mayhem, and much more. A sun-drenched San Francisco tradition not to be missed. free...

Our sources tell us that Halloween in the Castro as we knew it is now dead. Long live a dull and tedious San Francisco. Although supervisors promised us that Halloween in the Castro would return for 2008, it turns out that it will not make a spooktacular comeback; in fact, it won't return at all. The event is no more. Dead. It seems that the Entertainment Commission -- whose job, it seems, is to......

Starting this Thursday (Feb. 14) and going until next Monday (Feb 18) will be the International Bear Rendezvous, a yearly party for bears and bear lovers, sponsored by the Bears of San Francisco. What are bears, you ask? Bears are above-averagely hairy and/or fat men of the homosexual persuasion. Although considered a subset of the overall queer community, they were, arguably, quite popular for a brief moment in time, or so sayeth the holy......

For what it's worth: "In celebration of National Pancake Day on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., IHOP, one of America's favorite restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner, will give away one free short stack of its signature buttermilk pancakes to all guests," according to iHOP. But where in heaven's name are we to find an iHOP in gastronomically governed San Francisco? Well, there are two iHOPs in SF: one......

"Retailers Look for Post-Holiday Bump" Tee hee.......

-- Unsilent Night: New York-based composer Phil Kline’s holiday concert creates "an outdoor ambient music piece for an infinite number of boomboxes. It’s like a Christmas caroling party except that [you] don’t sing, but rather carry the music, each [member] playing a separate track that is a "voice" in the piece. In effect, we become a city-block-long sound system" So ... there you have it. Tapes and CDs will be handed out to participants.......

We interrupt your holiday frivolity, wild binge drinking, and high stress levels to bring you the following event: Tomorrow night the annual Homeless Death Memorial March takes place. A Day of the Dead, if you will, for those of us who passed away this year without having a place to call home. You want more info? Here you go: Please join us to commemorate homeless people—our friends, relatives, neighbors, acquaintances, and even some who......

-- Colors of Christmas: Oh yeah. You know you want to hear this KOIT-ish night of soulful holiday tunes live at Davies, right? Well, we sure do. Peabo Bryson, Oleta Adams, Ben Vereen, and Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. croon R&B-tinged holiday classics and modern hits starting at 8 p.m. at Davies Symphony Hall; $20-$80. -- The SantaLand Diaries & Season's Greetings: David Sedaris' famous dysfunctional and wry Christmastime tales hit the stage.......

Now that absinthe is back and more tipsy-inducing than ever, it only makes sense for them to take on practical lollipop form. Which is why Lit Absinthe Lollipops are the perfect stocking stuffer or gift for that 21-and-over kid in your life. Or better yet, the perfect gift for you while dealing with stereotypically cranky in-laws, assorted family dysfunctions, and all that other holiday-related stress, joy. Made with nothing more than sugar, corn syrup,......

Can you believe it's been a year since James Kim died in the Oregon mountains? We're very sorry to pass along the news that another Northern California family is missing in what we're hoping is not going to be another family holiday tragedy story. The Dominguez family went out last Sunday to cut down Christmas trees in the Sierra mountains: the father, Frederick, and his three children, Christopher (18), Alexis (15), and Joshua (12). That's......

They're here - the shiny, rectangular all-access passes to your favorite indie-rock festival, Noise Pop. According to their press release, these badges will "...grant access to all general admission Noise Pop shows, film screenings, happy hours and other happenings during the festival." Yes. We want one. Don't delay; Noise Pop is offering a ticket to one of two already sold out Magnetic Fields shows with the purchase of the Noise Pop Badge. Apparently this show......

Feel that? Why, those are your heart stings being tugged care of us and this cool little guy over here on the right. (Who like totally did not just make us completely tear up right now, so shut up!) Before we launch a few gift giveaways, why not take a moment to donate some money and/or effort to something worthy? Like giving people food, for example. No gift is too small and every bit......

Well, this sounds like the perfect (and perfectly frightening) holiday entertainment for both kiddies and adults. On December 20, 21, and 22 the San Francisco Symphony will perform the entire Harold Arlen ("Harold, darling -- stand up!") and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg score to The Wizard of Oz right in the comfort and holiday splendor of Davies Symphony Hall. And although Rufus Wainwright will not be there to cover Garland's tunes while sporting a blue......

Seems like all our friends are getting sick with that weird cold/flu that's going around town -- what with the cold weather and pre-holiday stress, we guess we're not too surprised about it, but still. So do you have that cold? Are you getting over it? Because we have a question if so -- how did your cold start? We've been coughing a little and we're wondering if we're coming down with something. How long......

This week we want to focus on the local music scene even though it seems that Portland natives' Blitzen Trapper and Stephen Malkmus have captured San Franciscan's hearts - Wednesday's show is sold out. (There aren't even any tickets available on Craigslist!) Friday night you'll want to head over to Slim's to catch six bands: Perfect Machines, Fyre Away, High Like Five, the Paper Sons, Punch Face and Bob Hill Band. We're most excited about......

-- Crime in Choir: CIC rocks it. Hard. For reals. Big time. One of the purest sounds coming out of SF these days, really. Brave the chill and head down to Potrero Hill to check them out. You won't regret it. Pink Mountain and Science of Yarba open at this anniversary party for Frenetic Records. The music starts at 10 p.m. at Bottom of the Hill; $10. -- It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine:......

Why, it's take-your-kid-to-the-symphony day on Sunday (Saturday in San Jose), featuring a performance of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. And here's a little claymation preview: It's so darling, isn't it? Hopefully it'll be as much a blast as the opera for families. More after the jump!...

Did you know that the "North of Market Holiday Celebration" is coming up? Neither did we! And neither did the rest of the internet, because there's no mention of the (possibly-fictitious) event anywhere else online. What could it possibly be? We simply couldn't find any information or imagery related to the damn thing; and that's why we decided to run this totally-unrelated picture from a few weeks ago. Anyway, Muni claims that they'll be closing......

Everyone -- that's right, everyone -- is talking about the camel toe costume Marc Jacob's sported during his annual holiday party. Outrageous. But this here, we think, is the best costume in this collection of pics from said party. And it's a cobra! Which is awesome! Ssss! New York fashion folk: what won't they do? Image credit: Tracey Lomrantz / Elle.com......

SFist interviews Rachel Schutz of Darlybird and hosts a giveaway of some of her awesome wares...

A photo of the FiDi at night with holiday lighting...

Photo of an alleged Chistmas Tree in San Francisco's Civic Center...