As part of its upcoming literary arts festival, Litquake is throwing a big and-- dare we say it-- bad Between the Bridges opening night to-do this Friday October 6 at 8 p.m. The rockin' fun will be at the Regency Center Grand Ballroom, 1290 Sutter Street (Van Ness at Sutter). And we've got two tickets to give away! ...

We are SO all over the upcoming Litquake Opening Night at the Regency Center, Friday, October 6. Written word and music kept us sane in our dork formative years, and continue to sustain us. While we used to hope those dork years were behind us, we have learned to embrace it. We can't think of a better way to celebrate and acknowledge these two cherished forces than Between the Bridges, a homage to literature with a fabbo lineup of Bay Area musicians. It's a known fact that almost all writers listen to music, now it's our turn to find out what writers musicians READ and in some cases, incorporate into their work as inspiration. ...

We're not crazy about instrumental music (in case you haven't noticed) so we're especially impressed when an artist can break through our predilections. RATATAT's music is so melodic, varied and compelling that it makes vocals and lyrics seem superfluous. The Brooklyn duo expertly mixes snakey synth lines with sneering guitar, cello, sleigh bells and samples like the appropriately primal roar in "Wildcat". It's a little early to tell, but RATATAT's Classics just might make it......

SFist had a rock-n-roll weekend that started last Friday night at Varnish for our 2nd birthday party. Not only did DJ Ted of BAGeL Radio rock the house with a few hours of his finest tracks, our friend Nick Tangborn from Jackpine Social Club also brought Mark Eitzel down for a few beers. It was great to meet some readers and the SFist bingo game was a real highlight, especially when one of our partygoers......

Two dear friends of SFist wrote in to let us know about local tsunami relief events. Your Waitress wants photobloggers and everyone else to know that HiMY SYeD, Toronto native and current Bay Area resident, is asking folks to organize neighborhood vigils on Sunday the 9th and Monday the 10th as part of the Global Vigil for the Global Village. Vigils are already planned for Toronto, New York, Karachi, London and Vancouver, as well......

Sfist loves doing things for the good of humankind. We also love to drink. So we plan on attending a MoveOn.org fundraiser, for John Kerry, next week at The Make-Out Room. The FUNdraiser will be hosted by authors Stephen Elliott and Peter Orner, with appearances by authors such as Tobias Wolff, and Mr. Mark Eitzel, of American Music Club fame. The party takes place on Monday, August 9th at 7:30 pm. Admission is on a $10-$20 sliding scale; if you are at all paying for muni rides with your saved nickels (like we are), this is good news. We know a lot of you have been waiting to pitch in for Kerry. Here's your chance to do that, mingle, AND have a few beers!...