Kicking it at the Days-Inn on Lombard. [Butter Retriever]Twitter explained in plain English. [Laughing Squid]The very hot Tyler Florence to take over the very gay Plush Room. Intriguing. [Eater]More on Prop. 22. [BAR]Moth alarmism? [SFBG]UC Berkeley gets restraining order against animal rights activists. [EBX]The best drama on television? Intervention The Wire. Of course. [SFGate]......

Laughing Squid broke the news that game designer Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons (1974)/co-founder of Tactical Studies Rules, died today at the ripe age of 69. According to LS, his death was announced on the Troll Lord Games forum. Steve (AKA the High Lord, Coburg the Undying, he who sits on the elephants back of the Castle and Crusade Society) had this to say on the forums: It is almost too much......

God, sometimes we love Orange County. It's such a parody of itself at times, which we admire. Especially when it comes to brilliance like the following found over at Laughing Squid. You see, the city of Santa Ana (oy) wants to help parents determine, via the graphic above, whether or not their child is a rat bastard tagger. The city of Santa Ana's site explains their accusatory and unfair image, along with the final......

Scott Beale over at Laughing Squid came across these adorable videos, which he dedicates to his "Super Mario Brothers obsessed" nephews, that bring together two important turning points from our youth: Legos and Super Mario Brothers. Check out more levels here. Each of them are worthy time wasters. Enjoy!......

We ran across this picture over at Laughing Squid and thought it was a great way to learn the different neighborhoods in San Francisco for any newbies to the area. Our only qualm is that they've left out a few key areas, such as Tenderloin(!), NOPA, Panhandle and the SubMission. Maybe next time Ork Posters will include them.......

Easy and compact, check out Apple CEO Steve Jobs' 90-minute keynote speech in 60 seconds. It's like the Golden Globes, only not as pretty or deadly important. And as you all know--waking up this morning to realize that, no, it wasn't all just a beautiful dream--the MacBook Air is upon us. In a bizarre moment of Jobs' continuing Trumpification, just moments after his speech to his denizens, Steve Jobs chirped to the New York......

Tiger attack emergency 911 calls released. [ABC 7]Totally! Macworld Expo's banners blow. Hard. And not in a good way. [Curbed] MAPI is hard. [eWEEK]"Flesh-eating, sexually-transmitted bacteria" hitting SF? Oh dear. [io9] MacBook Air Biscuit unveiled. (Tee hee.) [Laughing Squid]Joyce Slaton hearts gun-shaped egg fryers. And so should you. [CHOW] AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez......

Good Lord, what blog isn't over at Moscone Center today, getting moist over Steve Jobs? (We would be there, too, but it's positively glacial outside today. Burr.) Anyway, for those of you who care, here are some choice live-bloggy links to today to Macworld Expo 2008. Today, in case you're living under a rock (or have a life) is Steve Jobs keynote speech, and he just announced the holy presence of the new MacBook......

Just prior to last week's No Pants Subway Ride (AKA: No Pants 2k8), a few improv-appreciating activists went on a mooning spree of the blue kind. The nerve! But don't take our word for it, check out all of the shocking naked-butt action, above. And in front of the Irish Bank, no less! (Brilliantly brought to you by Viddyou's nahduhlee's.) To check out some photos of the naked BART riders, do visit No Pants......

Can you feel it? The Macworld Expo 2008 approaches. Shhh, you might scare it. When your editor worked in the consecrated halls of Macworld, we were surprised by the ilk that attended the annual Macworld Expo - a bit like the Oracle World people, but minus the vile behavior and false sense of entitlement. let's see, we remember two clinically-obese Mac fans fainting while waiting in line to hear keynote speaker Steve Jobs introduce......

The Pope, Linda Blair, and the Vatican’s "exorcist-in-chief." [BeyondChron] SF park improvement ballot measure benefits few. [Curbed]Macworld Keynote 2008 predictions form contest. Very nice. [Laughing Squid] The Chicken McNoggin and other vile food products. [SFoodie] Google Maps will display live Iowa caucus results. [ValleyWag] Swish says see ya. [SFGate] New science-fiction blog! [io9] And finally, Obama and Huckabee pull off surprising wins in Iowa caucuses. [Salon] Image: BeyondChron......

Laughing Squid’s Last Minute Unholiday Party: Scott Beale and the gang will be having a most splendid post- and un-holiday party/experiment with social media. Although LS will be "providing some beer and buying pizza, but please feel free to bring some more beer, wine, leftover holiday food, etc." The mood is low-key and geek-filled, and we mean that in the best possible way. Starts at 7 p.m. at Citizen Space. Ben-Hur (1959): Not only......

Found over at Laughing Squid, "The Tiki Bar TV is selling a classic pinup calendar featuring the fabulous Lala. The calendar was designed by Vancouver vfx artist and illustrator Kevin Genze." Laughing Squid also has some choice Tiki-related links, so do check them out.......

-- Van Halen jumps. [SFGate] -- Tommi Avicolli-Mecca to be visited by three ghosts Xmas Eve. [Beyond Chron] -- Gavin Newsom wants to be President of the U.S.A. you to get healthier. [Matier and Ross] -- SWL 337 Planning Challenge winners announced. (Go Jackson!) [Curbed] -- Susan Leal hit by a car. Chin up, girl. [CBS5] -- San Francisco's 100th homicide. [The Snitch] -- Bloggers, copyrights, photos, and lots of hair pulling. [Laughing Squid]......

-- Perverts. [ASD] -- San Francisco to go solar. [Curbed] -- SUV rampage remembered. [SFGate] -- Bernal Heights robbers? Oh noes! [The Snitch] -- The McKesson Corporation sued. Also, SFBG's got the love for the Examiner? [SFBG] -- The handitards over at Best Buy apologize for sending Scott Beale an inane cease & desist missive. Classic stuff, folks. [Laughing Squid] -- Blueprint -- it's not a good thing. (Eh.) [ValleyWag]......

-- Built in 1911, the Tower Theater is up for sale. Again. [Curbed SF] -- Fatal Bayview fire still under investigation. [SF Examiner] -- Jew's attorney asks, "More time, please?" Look, the only kind of time that will help Ed's case is a time machine. Thank you, good night! [SFGate] -- The new Mint. (Also, a museum? Yawn.) [Transbay Blog] -- Milk vs. The Mayor of Castro Street. Me-ow! [ASD] -- Hit-and-run suspect snagged.......

Last Friday's public pie fight was a phenomenal, messy success. This reporter (above) got hit hard, it seems, or added more cream to her camera-ready face for the cameras. We're sorry we missed this, but again, as we used to whine in elementary school to avoid any water-balloon mayhem or recreational sporting activity, "Don't! Dude, our mom's going to kill us if we get our clothes dirty." Laughing Squid has an brilliant comment commencing......

Screw the cardboard tube battle, this sounds like something that needs to happen every night. This evening at 5 p.m. sharp, head on down to the tourist epicenter of San Francisco, the Powell Cable Car turnaround, for what will be a massive pie fight. According to Mr. Scott Beale over at Laughing Squid, SF0 player Herbie Hatman is organizing a formal-attire pie fight (think Mabel Normand, Keystone Cops) which will get all up in......

-- March, rally, die. [Bluoz, SFGate] -- Zombie, thrill(er), dance. [SFWeekly] -- Mac OS X Leopard...on your PC! [Laughing Squid] -- San Francisco's Visitacion Valley Middle School's principal to receive highest honor available for principals. Okay then. [CBS5] -- Half Moon Bay gang rape sentencing delayed. (Karma's a bitch, boys. Well, for you all it sure will be.) [Examiner] -- 32 Heron Street. Mmm, bricky SOMA goodness. [Curbed SF] -- Plane high dives into the......

-- Bay Area firefighters wait and wait and wait for SoCal assignments. [SFGate] -- Curbed SF: traumatizing one daughter at a time. Beasts! [Curbed SF] -- Bay Area stock soar today. [Examiner] -- But What Would Harvey Do? [SFBG] -- What not to wear...on Halloween. [SF Weekly] -- Laugh-Out-Loud Cats, the comic strip. [Laughing Squid]......

-- Plumpjack caves in to Lights Out SF. [CurbedSF] -- Oh snap! "...if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement." [Chron] -- Handsome South Asian chef too distracted to flirt. Boo! [Fog City Notes] -- Hidden Valley Pesticides. Yum! [SJMerc] -- Dear Ellen DeGeneres: You're insane. Love, everyone. [Examiner] -- Then again, who are we to......

Behold: Craig Newmark sits in on The Colbert Report. (We had to find out about it on Laughing Squid. Always pay your cable bill, kids!) Read more about it here and here.......

Beware: staring tonight at precisely 7:30 p.m. the undead will gather around the Double L Gyratory Undead Attractor and wreak havoc around the city. Might you be one of them? Horrors! Double beware: tonight's march of the dead will take place near the SF Main Library where the San Francisco Mayoral debate will be in progress. We'd hate to think that any of you interrupted the Mayoral shenanigans -- bringing tears to the eyes......

ArtCar Fest 2007 Comes to San Francisco...

Remember this game? Well, we don't remember the game's competitive aspects -- does anyone? -- but we remember setting up its trap over and over and over until it finally broke. And over at Laughing Squid, Scott Beale caught a life-sized version of the game at the Maker Faire 2007. (Yes, any fair ending with an "e" is cause for great alarm, but this Mouse Trap overrides that fear.)......

[NSFW] -- Crank (prank?) calls to 911. [Chron] -- Wildfire still wild -- 7,000+ acres wild. [CBS5, San Jose Merc] -- Death, death, death, death... [Chron, Examiner] -- Fines to go up for carpool cheaters. Good. [Oakland Tribune] -- Scott Beale goes to this strange place called Fisherman’s Wharf and to San Francisco's only In-N-Out. Also: really, Snyder family? 524390645 Quizno's Subs just opened up on my block, so why can't you? [Laughing Squid]......

-- Gross, sticky, exhausting, hot weather begins. But! Ride public transit for free tomorrow during a Spare the Air Day. [Examiner, SFMTA] -- Gang members, extortion, and THC.. [Bluoz] -- 12-year-old Jose Trujillo of San Leandro dies after a skateboarding accident. Sad. [Chron] -- Mick LaSalle laughs hysterically at cute, young, blonde girl's misfortune. [Chron Blogs] -- Closet-case Senator "has never been gay." He's just a guy who digs other guys, dude. [CBS5] --......

-- Giants win 5-4. [Chron] -- Bonds and corporate sponsors = oil and water. [Examiner] -- Horror movie remakes. [Chron] -- Aboard the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien. [Laughing Squid] -- San Jose cockfighting blocked. [Chron] -- Missing Sonoma State University woman found dead in her SUV. [CBS5] -- "Manhunt 2" good to go. [Reuters]......

Checking out Laughing Squid, we came across yucksters SFShenanigans' Christmas-In-August calendar item. (Similar to last month's reverse trick-or-treat, which we hear was spooktacular.) Fun! But in the comments section of the Laughing Squid post is where it gets interesting: Kinton Linton Johnson, BART chief spokesperson and their number-one fan, baptized the comments section, saying SFShenanigans need to score a "free-speech permit" before singing "Carol of the Bells," getting festive. Sadly, he goes on to......

-- Daft Punk's Electroma: Pinocchio-ish road movie about two robots -- played by Daft Punk members Peter Hurteau and Michael Reich -- and their quest to become human. Riot In Belgium, the Bang Gang DJs, Dandi Wind, and Richie Panic & Jefrodisiac perform tonight before and after the movie. Doors open at 7 p.m. at Mezzanine, 444 Jesse (at Mint); free with RSVP at going.com. -- Justice League Wiffle Ball Game: According to Laughing......