Channel St. is the only street in San Francisco where none of the residents live on land. Where a pair of waterfront parks line the entire length of the street (and one of the few remaining creeks in town). Where a long-defunct tugboat and heady pile of fragrant tree bark don’t seem out of place alongside the road....

It's another music giveaway bonanza this week! First up is a prize pack from Sea Wolf. They've been touring with Silversun Pickups (see a few SSPU members in the video for "You're A Wolf"), but they're a far more mellow outfit: Alex Church's vocals and melodies are gentle, strummy and soothing. Sea Wolf open for Devotchka on Friday night at the Grand Ballroom Bimbo's, and we have a pair of tickets for the winner......

Did you miss us last week? Here are our excuses: we caught a cold, had a birthday, and were up to here with work at our dayjob, for real. We're back now and anxiously awaiting a copy of Or, the Whale's brand new CD Light Poles and Pines to arrive in our mailbox. The few songs we've previewed on their site offer up banjo, steel guitar, and a chorus of male and female vocals......

Monday nights are the Contemporary Jazz Orchestra Big Band nights at North Beach mainstay Jazz at Pearl's. They play the classic jazz orchestra works (Ellington, Mingus) and also some hard bop. Two shows (one at 8, one at 10), $15 + 2-drink minimum, 256 Columbus (x Pacific). Other events: --Salsa and swing dance lessons at Julie's Supper Club, with burlesque performers on the hour. 8-11 p.m., $6 after 8 p.m. (half hour lesson), $10 by......

Droll NPR commentator (who was previously fired for cursing) Sandra Tsing Loh brings her one-woman show, "Mother On Fire," to the Women's Building tonight! For a 9 night run! The show's about her travails trying to find an appropriate school for her kindergarten age daughter in the California school system and ran for 7 months in LA. Here's the one-liner. "I looked at public schools, private schools, parochial schools -- even Baptist school. It turns......

SFist Jenna's rocked so hard, we've made her a full-fledged staff writer as of this post! Congratulations, SFist Jenna! We're excited to have you on board (like we're a ship or something). It's going to be freezing, but what else is new? Might as well make the most of it -- be sure to pack plenty of blankets and head over to a screening of the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory tonight, in......

Tonight we're wishing a great big Happy 4th Birthday to DJ Ted and his baby BAGeL Radio. The party is at Bottom of the Hill with performances by Birdmonster, Division Day and Two Seconds, and yes there will be cupcakes! The show is 18+ and only $10, but for those of you who aren't in the city tonight you can still listen in to the party performances thanks to the fine folks at Lala.com.......

First, the swanky: The MoAD Vanguard presents Preview at the Clift Hotel, (495 Geary St. at Jones) an evening of art, music and dance for a cause - the cause being MoAD and the arts of the African Diaspora. From the PR: groove to the global sounds of DJ Cecil (Relevant Sound, Bembe) while taking in the artwork of Amanda Williams, April Banks, Rah Crawford, Rosalind McGary, Emmanuel Pratt and Sydney James. Preview is......

They should really have more shows in art galleries -- as we walked into the Lab on Sunday night for the Mission Creek Music Fest ambient noise show Sunday night show, we saw not only a band setting up, but also a meticulously-obsessive installation by artist/medical student Anli Liu, memorializing all the patients she's seen at SF General. Meanwhile, in the back room, we had a very tasty sparkling grapefruit juice (Izze Juice -- remember......

Check out SFist Shelley with Henry Rollins (!!!) at last week's benefit for the West Memphis Three! MUNI madness: while SFist Eve meets the famous head of MUNI, Mr. Nathaniel Ford, SFist MattyMatt grits his teeth and waits in vain for the elusive 33. What else have we been doing? We're going to DocFest, the Mission Creek Music Festival, theater, and air guitar championships. We also went to check out the new Beard Papa......

Earlier this week we told you about some of the great shows at the Mission Creek Music & Arts Festival, including a special performance by Dieselhed at 12 Galaxies on Sunday night. We're sending two of you to the show. Preview some songs off their 1999 album Elephant Rest Home and enter to win. (Contest ends Friday at 5pm. Winner will be notified via email.) Another great show is happening at 12 Galaxies next Wednesday......

Sunday kicked off the 10th annual Mission Creek Music and Arts Festival featuring over 170 music acts, most of them local but some of them national (Vincent Gallo) and international (Ane Brun). The MCMAF offers a fantastic opportunity to get out into your neighborhood bars and clubs and see some bands on the rise. You can also get an earful of the uniquely adventurous and creative music coming out of the bay area. The......

Last week's winner, the Metro! Hilarious letter from a candidate for the SJ city council that 1) misspells Ron Gonzales's name and 2) gets the date of the election wrong. (Hey Metro, why aren't your letters online?) Gary Singh had a bitch of a time trying to get a burrito in SJ on May 1. Closing down the jailhouse law libraries, and no, the SJ Fourth Street Bowl will not be closing. Chinese youth orchestra......

Pull out your wallets because we'd like to tell you about a few new records that you should consider buying. The Herms celebrate their new CD Record Machine (out May 23rd) early tonight at Great American with Loquat and The Husbands, so head down to congratulate them and get your hands on an advance copy of the CD before it's out in stores. We haven't heard their record yet, but we trust our friend Nick......

Photographer Rob Kunkle spent last week taking pictures of the acts at the Mission Creek Music Festival, which was held at multiple locations across The City last week. Pictured are The Gentlekin. Check out all the pics on Flickr. Events included readings, DJs and live acts. Events were held at spaces as diverse as Artist Television Access, Adobe Books, Cafe Du Nord, 12 Galaxies and the Edinburgh Castle. It was the ninth annual such......

Our concert picks for the week of 6/9-6/15. **Free stuff alert**: Guest lists aren't just for writers, weasels and friends of the band anymore. They're also for the fine, fine readers of SFist. Engage the Expand-O-Tron to get you +1 on the guest list for:Amusement Parks on Fire at Popscene on Thursday, June 16th The Futureheads at The Fillmore on Saturday, June 18thSpeaking of Popscene, tonight MSN Music presents a "Popscene Appreciation Party" with Kasabian......

Last week's winner, the SF Weekly: the "winner" for the female synonym for cock-block is "clitoris-no-more-us." SFist Jackson's snatch-latch was so much better! Matt Smith hates the Chron (Laguna Honda overrun edition). Cover article: Roller derby girls. Meredith Brody goes back to the Ferry Building, and the vegan also goes to Cafe Gratitude. Music: Sleater-Kinney, one week late. And Savage Love: politics. The Bay Guardian: Dude, you gotta check out the letters! dreamy Matt Gonzalez on his commitment to gay rights, the phrase "punk Chris Daly school-yard bullies," and high dudgeon at the SF School District! Plus: editorial by the original punk school-yard bully himself, on homelessness! And a dude in Berkeley almost-just-quite managed to squat his way to full-out home ownership! Man, what have we done this week? Nothing. Also, there's lead-tainted candy in the Mission. Annalee Newitz loves Vader, J-town hates Starbucks. Cover article: Mission Creek Music/Arts Fest! Chocolate in the East Bay and the pick of the week after the jump....

Our concert picks for the week of 6/2-6/8. Are you feeling festive? Lucky for you, the Mission Creek Music Festival takes over several fine San Francisco venues starting this week. They've curated some of the best bands this city has to offer while throwing in a national act or two to satisfy your wanderlust. Chances are one of your friends is playing MCMF at some point, so there's no excuse not to go. Start tonight......

ENTER TO WIN! "I've got a non-dairy creamer in my jeans, I'm happy to see ya if you know what I mean." Oh, do we ever. Those are the words of Jose Miguel Contreras, ringleader of By Divine Right, a power-pop quartet en route from their hometown of Toronto to rock the bay area next week. Sweet Confusion, the title of their latest release, is the perfect description of their sound -- they add a......