What with Fourth of July just around the corner, police departments all around the Bay Area tend to get flooded with calls mistaking gunfire for fireworks. How can you tell the difference? Well, Precita.org informs us that "gunshots are usually fired in closer succession, often 1-2 shots per second." Also, from our own experience, and what with SFist HQ located near 715 Harrison, gunshots have a more tinny, slap-across-the-face-ish sound to them. Now you know,......

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......

Whether this is a hate crime or simply a theft, we are flabbergasted that this story has barely made the news. The valuable bronze plaque commemorating the Armenian Genocide that occurred in the early 20th century was discovered missing on Sunday the 23rd, during an event to recognize Armenian Independence Day. Although police are calling this a "a very serious matter," word hadn't gotten out until this last Thursday. In cases like these, one......

-- Brazilian Independence Day Celebration: Help celebrate Brazil's independence from Portugal by getting drunk, listening to master drummer Jorge Alabe, maybe doing a forbidden dance or two, and much more. The festivities start at 7 p.m. at Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding, Alameda; $15. -- Peaches Christ Retrospective: Not only does she liven up the stage at Trannyshack and host Midnight Mass, but Joshua Grannell (a.k.a. Peaches Christ) also makes those newfangled talking pictures,......

The Asian Art Museum's monthly throwdown, Matcha, kicks off around 6pm with DJs, tours, workshops and cocktails. The Live Action Cartoonists, a performance troupe that combines comics and theatre, will perform highlights from Science (Fiction) an experimental production that re-interprets Tezuka Osamu’s Astro Boy. 200 Larkin St., SF. Dance away your Independence Day hangover at the Rickshaw Stop! Fleeting Joys(shimmery, Cocteau Twins-esque tunes out of SacTown) Christopher Willits (think Postal Service, but better) and......

What with Paris Hilton's release earlier this week and the upcoming celebration of American Independence (sorry, Londonist!), we've been thinking a lot about freedom. Freedom to vote, freedom to choose, and most importantly, freedom to blog. Here are a few things we're happy we've been free to blog about this week. Being the nation's capital, DCist felt especially proud to let freedom ring this week by exposing the really important issues, like how sad they......

Nancy Pelosi is sticking up for her constituents, amidst all the recent news that San Francisco has the highest gas prices in the nation. She says that she's trying to make July 4th “Energy Independence Day" through a package of proposals. As a pedestrian/public transportation user, we don't personally feel a direct impact from these high prices, but we'd be fooling ourselves to think that there isn't a trickle-down impact -- on any goods......

What better way to celebrate Independence Day than with new plays that unapologetically explore the state of the nation?...

This might get us in a bit of trouble, but we actually like the Chron's token conservative columnist Debra Saunders. Yes, we don't usually agree with her, but we like the fact that she has the intellectual integrity to call foul on her own side when she disagrees with them. Frankly, our political discourse would be a whole lot better if pundits didn't just repeat the party line. Every once in awhile, however, Debra grabs......

Stage Fog gets you into the great outdoors this week....

Before we moved to the Bay Area, all our knowledge on Cinco de Mayo came from our time spent at our local Chi-Chi's, (which played host to a perennially broken sign reading "17 days until Cinco de Mayo"), that Ween song, and stuff from history class. Our takeaways from those three areas of information were that Chi-Chi's is janky, we'll never really "get" indie rock, and that it's not "Mexican Independence Day", but rather......