You think Gavin means it when he tells Ken Garcia that it's kind of freaking him out that no one's running against him? Well, there's one more down: ABC 7's Dan Noyes has the scoop that Tony Hall has dropped out of the race too. Hall was the one unambiguously-serious mayoral candidate running against Gavin Newsom (and by "unambiguously-serious" we mean was a wedding singer but does not have an animal in his name and......

We parked in the hay last Saturday evening and were told by one of Shoreline Amphitheater's parking attendants, "Watch out for that big hole. We're right on the fault line!" Then, after walking for what seemed like a mile, we were finally able to hear the faint strumming of Joanna Newsom's harp and her signature, endearingly quivering voice. It had probably been ten years since we had last been to an amphitheater, and we realized upon entering the event that they all look the same, for the most part. ...

Tonight at The Lab (2948 16th St at Capp), it's the opening reception for the Corporate Art Expo '07, an exhibition of the "art lie" du jour - artists taking on the guise of corporations with the requisite branding, logos, and jargon, often as a means to critiquing capitalism and consumerism. Curated by Shane Montgomery, the exhibition features faux-corps: the Anti-Advertising Agency, Acclair, C5 Corporation, Davis & Davis Research, Meaning Maker, Death and Taxes, Inc.,......

Greetings from the great beyond! We've just died and gone to blog heaven after this explosion of every single thing we're obsessed with over on the Chronicle's Culture Blog. RIP, us! Okay, so let's see, what do we have here... a 1) Catherine Bigelow-penned blog entry featuring 2) Britney Spears's bald head grafted onto the bodies of 3) local politicians and 4) Pac Heights celebutantes!! Over on our beloved former co-editor's new online adventure, with......

Well, whaddya know -- sorry for misrepresenting the accuracy of the SFWall gossip: Gavin Newsom is 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. Gavin's trip is occasioned by the 50th anniversary of San Francisco's sister city relationship......

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). And hey,......

--The tap dancer at Powell and Market's hanging up his shoes. --Jerry Yang golfs with a 10 handicap. We have absolutely no idea what that means. Come back soon, SFist Jon! --Gay penguins in love. Awwwww. --Gavin Newsom's going to Japan for a week or so. SFist Jim notes that Gavin's cousin and indie rock star Joanna Newsom is going to be there at the exact same time. Family reunion, or mixup at the......

We'd have a sad face too if the Chron came out against our position on Question Time, some mayoral pipsqueak in Santa Clara was out to eat our Niners lunch, and our chief of staff had just resigned because he'd been clashing with our minder Peter Ragone! (Though for full disclosure, this picture's almost two years old.) The latest news on the 2007 mayoral front? The Examiner went down to City Hall and got......

How do you feel about holiday music? We thought that KOIT started playing their 24/7 holiday programming a little early this year, but we do love randomly hearing Jose Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad" in our car. There are two holiday albums out this year that we've been enjoying. If you're a fan of Sarah McLachlan, you should buy her holiday album Wintersong. The CD has several traditional holiday tunes, but we were pleasantly surprised by......

Last week's winner, the East Bay Express. Rad dream cartoon this week. Feeding your pets raw meat. Are people trying to sneak into the Berkeley school system? Cover article: not sending juvies to jail. The Dixie Chicks play Oakland this Friday. The Slits are in town. A review of Xyclo -- Oakland Vietnamese restaurant, with a cool name. Old people went to the Rolling Stones show. And Tenacious D. Next up: the Bay Guardian. Nancy......

SFist interviews Michael Taylor from the Court and Spark...

Last week's winner, the new tabloid-style redesigned Bay Guardian. Pool of blood! Murders! Headless Body In Topless Bar! All for their 40th anniversary. Looks good -- but this type is hard to read. Various outrages in our city. And man, we thought this "Wade versus Redmond" ad on page 17 for the Third Street Gym referred to Tim Redmond. The redesign's throwing off our skim-o-tron! Cover: The SFPD ignoring Asian-American gang stabbings in the Tenderloin. And Sonic Reducer declined to go to a party with a Fleetwood Mac cover band featuring Joanna Newsom as Stevie Nicks!?!!?!??! (Well, it was raining pretty hard last week....) Making a triumphant return, the San Jose Metro!. Second Amendment advocates in San Jose use Chris Daly's own Prop H to get the right to bear arms into the state Constitution. Please, no more propositions! Haven't we learned from our mistakes of the past? Cover article: excellent Chinese subregional food in Milpitas (Darda rules). Why do alternative-rock listeners have to go all anti-Latino about the switchover at 104.9? And SFist Eve's horoscope: she should expand her spiritual life. After the jump, the two New Times publications (the Weekly and the EBX). ...

Rock me like a hurricane! Well, I already told you my favorite news posts of the year -- but what about the other stuff? So here goes: Best movie I saw for free for SFist Reviews: It's so exciting to go up to the box office and be like, "I have press passes!" I really liked the Wellstone! biography, and the Grace Lee Project is out of contention because I actually paid my own money to see that one -- but the one I still think about all the frickin' time is Chinese Restaurants: Three Continents. Why didn't I think of a career path that would oblige me to travel to exotic countries and eat Chinese food all the time? Best show I saw on the 'Fist: Joanna Newsom! Though the Sufjan show with SFist Krissy (and Jason Schwartzman!) is definitely a close second. Best celebrity I met this year: You know, I met a number of interesting folks this year -- but you know, I think I gotta go with Jack Daly. Jack for Mayor! Best Blotter: That ostrich running around on the Golden Gate Bridge, the same day the cops did that exceedingly-thorough search of Centerfolds was a pretty good Tuesday, we gotta say. That girl who sent out an APB about the stuffed mouse she tied to a runaway helium balloon was also hilar. Oh, no, wait -- we just found the entry about the tourist who accidentally rolled backwards down the crooked part of Lombard Street. We have a winner! ....and Coolest person, 2005: My co-editor Eve, of course! Find out my worsts, after the jump! ...