Nearly a year after a major earthquake and tsunami shook and doused Japan, some 25 million tons of debris that washed out to sea when the tsunami receded is headed toward the California coast. We're talking cars, boats, pieces of houses, you name it. Whatever didn't sink has been slowly making its way across the Pacific Ocean, and experts believe we'll start seeing large objects start washing up on beaches as soon as next month. more ›

Well, since the earth has taken to shaking a bit the past five days, including those several in the East Bay late last week and the one in Turkey on Sunday that they now say killed over 360, we thought we'd let you know that Japan just had another quake. It's a not-insignificant one at 5.2, and it was centered in the same Fukushima prefecture as the big one in March, about 70 miles south of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear facility. Yeah, yikes. more ›

Inside Scoop's masterful Paolo Lucchesi brings us crucial entertainment this afternoon: James Brown's two long-lost Cup-O-Noodle commercials. They're beautiful. Lucchesi notes: "Sometimes there are no words. This is not one of those times. There is just one word here: Amazingness. This is guaranteed to brighten anyone's day." And how. more ›

The folks at Café Cocomo can't seem catch a break: according to the Examiner, the club on the edge of Potrero Hill and the Dogpatch was hosting a fundraising event yesterday evening when an all-out bar fight broke out, leaving five injured. What started as an argument between two lady patrons of the club, quickly escalated when an unidentified group of "vicious females" attacked peacekeepers who attempted to put a stop to the heated exchange of words. more ›

Here's a fantastic opportunity to buy super affordable art by local artists while benefiting disaster relief in Japan. The kind folks at SIR, Gallery Heist, and Kokoru Studio have organized Rise Japan, a huge fundraiser to take place on Saturday night, featuring a big line-up of artists, including Jeremy Fish, Sarah Applebaum, Hugh Leeman, SFist contributor Micke Tong, and many, many more. All art will be priced at or below $100, and 100% of the proceeds will go to Give2Asia. There will also be live music performances, books, food, and drinks. more ›

Have you ever wanted to have an intimate dinner with Supervisor Jane Kim? Ride your bike alongside Supervisor David Chiu? Sup with Supervisor David Campos at Moki's? Well then, head over to to Som on Wednesday (tomorrow!) for the S.F. Board of Supervisors Fundraiser for Japan. In addition to wonks galore, there will be a presentation from the Consulate General of Japan, DJ tunes by local resident B-Haul (Tasty), lots of booze, and a silent auction. Said auction, featuring goodies offered by your Supervisors, will include the following items: more ›

Be prepared for a ton of radiation news, if not an actual "plume" of harmful radiation, in the coming days and weeks. For now, President Obama, Berkeley scientists, and everyone who knows anything would like you to please go on about your lives, and don't believe all the hype and those mis-leading animations about the radiation plume coming from Japan and engulfing the West Coast. more ›

It is a scientific fact: The plume of radiation generated from the Fukushima Nuclear Plant in Japan is moving towards the U.S. West Coast. That plume is expected to reach California by Friday, however, "experts said they were confident that the amount of radiation would be well within safe limits," reports the LA Times. more ›

A tipster let us know about this remarkable email that was sent to Digg's Kevin Rose from a friend and Apple employee in Tokyo detailing Apple's swift and ample support during the Tohoku Earthquake and subsequent 118 aftershocks on Friday. The company was not only a comfort to hundreds of stranded residents who flocked to their store in Tokyo's shopping district, but Apple was also a thriving lifeline to hundreds of its stranded employees and their families. more ›

By now most of you have seen ample footage of the tsunami that followed Friday's massive earthquake in Japan. We want you to look at one more, please. According to RussianToday: "[the footage shows] the moment the tsunami struck Japan's northeast coast. Residents of the port town of Kamaishi in Iwate prefecture watched in horror as the first huge tsunami waves hit, sweeping away cars and buildings. One group managed to scramble to safety on higher ground, where they watched as the water surged towards them." more ›

Here are some videos of this morning's tsunami action shot by people along various Bay Area coastlines ranging from Santa Cruz to San Francisco to Emeryville. (Outside of Santa Cruz and Crescent City harbors, the tsunami didn't affect Bay Area cities. Harmless, really.) more ›

Today's massive earthquake in Japan released a tsunami wave that, among other things, closed most California beaches and the Great Highway today. As of 8:00 a.m., the Chronicle reports: "The tide began rising shortly after 7:30 a.m. along beaches in Crescent City, where the tsunami was expected to hit the hardest in California. Officials predicted that waves could reach as high as 7 feet." more ›

A harrowing 8.9 earthquake hit Japan tonight. The New York Times reports: "A tsunami hit the coast of northeast Japan on Friday in the aftermath of an 8.9 magnitude earthquake about 80 miles offshore. Television images showed waves of more than 12 feet roaring inland. CNN reported that air and land transportation was severely disrupted." more ›

After receiving numerous complaints in Japan, "where personal privacy is highly valued," according to SF Business Times, Google will reshoot the country's street scenes. It seems that some of the shots in Japan, as in many other countries, looked over fence tops and into private residences. Google now plans to lower the camera, which is affixed to a car that helps capture said scenes, about 16 inches to help ensure less intrusive images. The Mountain View-based company did not say when, exactly, the new images will go live. In related news, Greece's Data Protection Authority (DPA) barred Google from snapping any more images "until the company provides additional privacy safeguards." more ›

Here's a roundup of sports news more ›

Now that donuts have made a return to Bay Area coffee houses--minus its exhausting Homer Simpsonesque, white-trash irony--you can find the preferable pastries at places like Ritual Coffee Roasters (vegan! and actually good!), Seattle's Best at Border's Books & Music (double-glazed), and even Starbucks (plasticky). With the return of the donut comes the return of the brewed coffee. At least, according to today's New York Times, which profiles the Blue Bottle Cafe, scheduled to open today this week, and their bizarre Jules Verne-ish coffee contraption. The first-prize-at-the-science-fair-like machine is poised to make coffee's tarnished reputation shine again. more ›

Tickets, tickets, anyone want some tickets? We have two tickets to Friday's concert at Slim's featuring: Until June, Matt White and Melee. We've already told you that you don't want to be late to this show, because all three bands are equally as good. more ›

SFist interviews Bobby of Monster Bobby who is opening for the Pipettes tonight' at Bimbo's more ›

We found Thomas Swick's traveling-abroad tips in this Sunday's Chronicle both cute and informative. But since we're stricken with a crippling fear of any existence east of (the) 5, we were left starving for a few answers as to why. more ›

Judith Schaefer's movie, , screened at the Roda Theatre in Berkeley on Tuesday and when the lights went back up, the crowd of mostly senior citizens were on their feet wildly applauding the filmmaker. The gray-haired lady sitting in front of us was shouting, "your movie is a gift! It's a poem!" more ›

SFist interviews Patrick Pentland from Sloan more ›

Hey, Folks, welcome to part two of our APE coverage. The Alternative Press Expo was this past weekend, and there was so much fun stuff we had to break our coverage into several tasty morsels. If you missed part one and want to read about some folks making with the funny, please feel free. In this post, we're focusing on some creators that combine a less obvious type of humor with some great art and a generally longer form of storytelling. more ›

On second thought, we don't want to know. more ›

Here's todays roundup of the news more ›

in fact going to Japan! According to press secretary Peter Ragone (so take it with a grain of salt), Newsom is leaving tomorrow and coming back on Tuesday -- hope he'll have a chance to catch cousin Joanna Newsom's Saturday Osaka show while he's there. more ›

Not only a blue tie alert, but it sounds like maybe the SFWall got Gavin and Joanna Newsom mixed up in their reports earlier this week that our mayor was in Japan -- SFist Jim confirms a sighting of Gavin Newsom in San Francisco today at a swearing-in ceremony. FYI: Joanna Newsom arrives in Nagoya, Japan today (it says Friday the 16th, but they have the international date line in their favor). more ›

While there's nothing big going on with the story, there is some more details coming out. Actually, there's a theme to all of this and that theme is frustration. The lawyers are frustrated that the three Marines are overseas and can't be questioned by the cops, Dan Noyes is frustrated that Kamala Harris won't answer any questions, the families of the singing group are frustrated no arrests have been made, and Ken Garcia is just plain frustrated. more ›

...Gleegate is back.... Hey, you might be wondering, whatever happened to those nice young boys from Yale who got pummeled by a few townies for singing the National Anthem all acapella style? Well, the answer would be nothing yet. Other than our city making ourselves that much more of an embarrassment. more ›

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