The Coachella 2008 line-up was announced last night. The reason you didn't hear anything about it was because they announced it in Mexico City, something to do with creating international ties. “This is really a way for us to get closer to our fans throughout Latin America who have been supportive of Coachella for the past 10 years,” says Goldenvoice’s Paul Tollett. Super; we just care about the line-up. We instantly checked to see who......

Well, this was unnerving. We came across these, um, public art pieces while walking down Stillman Street. Shot earlier this evening, the paint was fresh yet gooey. If we had to guess, one to two days old, maybe? What these images lack in whimsical mischief--like last November's bout of graffiti that marred a Los Gatos church, which somehow made Bay Area headlines--they make up for in fear and fright. Anyway, we're curious: what exactly......

We're not one to laugh at church vandalism. Ever. But the following story in today's Mercury News is goddamn hilarious. And hilariously bad. Los Gatos police believe the suspects who scrawled swastikas and anti-gay messages on two churches and a pharmacy last weekend probably live in town, and investigators are hoping someone will turn them in. In some ways ... the vandal - or vandals - who hit St. Mary's Catholic Church, United Methodist......

Today, right here our own backyard, Republican Presidential candidate (and now eventual loser) Fred Thompson said he is "personally opposed to civil unions and domestic partnerships." Uh oh. ...

Los Gatos-based NetFlix has one of the greatest products around, and we give them a lot of leeway despite the company's annoying, ever-present pop-up ads. The company just announced a summer concert series that attempts to mesh movies with music. We originally thought, "how cheesy." But then we decided we liked the idea -- more or less because it's so cheesy. Also, they're all free to the public. Unfortunately, none of the concerts are......

It's a tough biz, the tourism industry -- the cops had to break up a fight between the Bush Man, the Clown Man, and the Fisherman over who got to work what turf on Fisherman's Wharf last weekend. Doesn't the Bush Man just sneak up on the other guys' turf when they're not looking? A large mysterious package in the Sunset on Noriega and 24th occasioned a call to the SFPD bomb squad. Turned......

Last week's winner, the SF Weekly: Those of you longing for less Newsom news, the Weekly is your place! It's an entirely Ruby Tourk-free issue (except for the first two paragraphs of Matt Smith, at which point he then changes the subject entirely to talk some more about the city golf courses). More letters about Jade-Blue Eclipse. Has Nancy Pelosi had a facelift? People upset about the increase in fees for a state medical marijuana......

Last week's winner, the San Jose Metro. Gary Singh infiltrates a ladies' drinking circle, while Chuck Reed goes drinking with the Merc News. Do note, Gavin Newsom, that Reed only drank two bottled waters the entire night. Cover article: Making Redwood City fun again (land use edition). Italian food in Los Gatos. Lemon trees in winter. Women chanters. A review of the Justin Timberlake show. And the Straight Dope: are the magnetic poles going to......

We're back! Until our editor returns from vacation, that is. --Daly's not wearing green beads anymore. --They're opening a Trader Joe's in Oakland! --Wild pigs contaminated your spinach. --There was a minor fire at the Slanted Door yesterday at the Ferry Building. --Surveying the homeless in Golden Gate Park --Gelato wars in Los Gatos --Was it sexism that only scantily-clad female cheerleaders were suspended after a Halloween party last year? Picture from the SJ Merc......

A flat fee for BART? -- And speaking of BART, a new BART stop is about to be built, the first one since the SFO extension in 2003. It'll be called the West Dublin/Pleasanton stop and will be built between the ten minute gap in stops between Dublin/Pleasanton and Castro Valley ...

Alder Yarrow has written up the results of the UK-based Restaurant Magazine's top 50 list. You can set aside your obligatory "English food sucks" jokes, as The Fat Duck in the village of Bray, Berks, England has claimed the top spot, besting El Bulli in Spain (foams are soooooo 2004). Coming in at number three? Yountville's The French Laundry, winning best restaurant in the Americas. Berkeley's Chez Panisse was the "Highest Climber," rising to......

Investigators have discovered that the fire that killed a fire captain in Los Gatos was caused by either a burning candle or incense stick used to celebrate Chinese New Year. The homeowners had been using the room as a prayer shrine, despite having previously been warned not to use the room at all after a previous fire had started in that same spot. The fire melted through a power line on the roof of the house, which then fell into a puddle of water, electrocuting the firefighter. Two female employees of Woodside's nonprofit Gorilla Foundation have sued the group and its president for sexual harassment. The employees claim that the president, Penny Patterson, informed them that Koko the signing gorilla, who is cared for by the Foundation, has a "nipple fetish" and pressured them on numerous occasions to take off their shirts and show Koko their breasts. Patterson is reported to have said to Koko, "Koko, you see my nipples all the time. You are probably bored with my nipples. You need to see new nipples. I will turn my back so Kendra can show you her nipples." In sign language. Patterson also allegedly informed the women that displaying their breasts to Koko was a "normal component to developing a personal bond with the gorilla." Koko should go on the Howard Stern show! ...

Fool them once, shame on you; fool them twice -- well, the second time Alameda resident Marc Marmor's house caught on fire, the suspicious fire department finally figured out he'd accidentally started both blazes by smoking in bed. The first fire, two days before Christmas, severely damaged the home and neighboring properties and Marmor was told the house was uninhabitable. Nevertheless, about six weeks later, Marmor snuck back into the damaged house and again accidentally fell asleep with a lit cigarette on a twin mattress on the floor of the basement. The house is now completely destroyed. A few days ago, an SF Airporter shuttle with five people on it hit someone in an accident on 280 North, by the Mariposa exit. The driver originally claimed a homeless woman had wandered in front of the van. Then, when people started noticing that one of his passengers was missing, he revised his story that maybe someone had fallen out of the van when he swerved to avoid a car. Then, when other passengers started giving statements to the police and it became apparent that no one had seen a car in the other lane, people are now concluding maybe the driver fell asleep at the wheel. Today's news: the driver, Melvin Simpson, is O.J. Simpson's older brother. Whaa? Who even knew O.J. Simpson still had relatives in the Bay Area? And the South Bay cops are looking for a white man in his late 20s who's robbed 12 Subways, Quiznos, or Baskin Robbinses between the hours of 7:30 and 9 p.m. in San Jose, Los Gatos, Mountain View, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale. He always buys something an hour before robbing the place, and is always wearing a black or gray hoodie, gray beanie cap, and black pants. We hope it's a pair of those really big before- pants, like Jared's. ...

Now that the Culinary Digest is off playing shuffleboard in Los Gatos, we wanted to make sure that you're still getting your fill of Meredith Brody snark. So we point you to Le Blog de San Francisco by Cedric Westphal. Consider this an early birthday present for your blog, nous ami. Way back in February of 2003, just before we packed our bags and crossed the Bay Bridge to settle in The City, we......

Tune into KALW 91.7 next Tuesday at 1 p.m. to hear San Francisco's first female fire chief and first female police chief (pictured at left) speaking with SFist political reporter crush Adriel Hampton through the Commonwealth Club Broadcasts series (or stream it live now). Slippery criminals! A bank robbery suspect waiting to be interviewed by the FBI pried open a screen in the Federal Building in Oakland and then casually walked out past the U.S. Marshals office and out of custody. We hope he was whistling as he did it. The FBI re-caught the guy at the San Leandro BART station. And the Los Gatos police have made an arrest for murder in a missing persons case that's been unsolved for three years. The victim had gone out drinking in June 2001, met two guys at a bar, and then disappeared. The police finally solved the case when, about two years after the disappearance, someone living nearby contacted the authorities and said she'd found a rug matching the description of a rug missing from the victim's house. The police were able to trace fibers from the rug to the murder suspect. ...

Confirming weeks of rumors, Alviso-based TiVo and Los Gatos-based Netflix have announced that they will be partnering to develop technology for downloading DVDs straight through your TiVo device and into your home. ...

The Los Gatos post office was evacuated yesterday after 14 postal workers and one customer became mysteriously ill....

South Bay residents are seeing significantly larger numbers of coyotes moving into their residential areas....

Esseffist loves the movies, however we can get them. While we enjoy the theater experience, we sometimes prefer to watch our movies at home, where we can fully recline, play with a cat, or eat something that would be considered publicly disgusting....

In this week�s Girl Interrupted Angelina Jolie department, a woman at a Los Gatos mental institution was shot in the stomach by the cops for attempting to stab another woman patient at the hospital. A man died after falling off the Ocean Beach cliff Sunday morning, a little bit south of the Cliff House. Rescue efforts were impeded by the early morning fog and the steepness of the slope. A criminal investigation has been opened.......