Certain blocks speak to specific eras. While the local architecture can play a significant role, perhaps the most crucial factor is intangible...one that can’t be defined. It’s a mood we begin to sense as we sift around an area - what we imagine it to have been like so many years before, and in the case of certain places, how little it’s changed in the years since. Mission St. in the Excelsior had us thinking 1972 or so. Country Club Drive in the Parkside had 1954 down pat. Sturgeon St. on Treasure Island seemed rutted in about 1987. Amethyst Way in Diamond Heights feels like 1966. more ›

The kind folks over at Doc's Clock are hosting a fundraiser tomorrow night from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. to benefit Baykeeper. One hundred percent of the sales of Radeberger, Chimay Blue, Anchor Liberty (and more to be announced) will go to oil spill clean-up efforts. What a great excuse to down a couple (few) Chimays while playing a little shuffleboard. more ›

Tonight, for one night only, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts will be featuring two sneak previews of Dirty Country, a highly entertaining documentary about the underground world of raunchy music, directed by Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher, founders and hosts of the Found Footage Festival, which sold out four shows at the Red Vic last month. Dirty Country, which won the Audience Award at this year's South By Southwest, is part of Yerba... more ›

Found Magazine's inexhaustible founders, Davy and Peter Rothbart, will be at Berkeley's Pegasus Books tonight and at SF's The Dark Room on Thursday night for Found's "There Goes the Neighborhood Tour 2007." We're excited to see what's in Davy's trunk of "sparkling, brand-new finds" and be privy to Peter's songs based on notes from Found #5, aka "The Crime Issue." The Bay Area marks the halfway point in the bros.' "65-city, 36-state, 3-month rampage!" Found... more ›

Edward Gorey's art is perhaps the greatest combination of cute and grotesque we've seen. And it's not just for goth kids; everyone can enjoy the new exhibit at the Cartoon Museum of Art (655 Mission St.) through January 20, 2008. more ›

Based on a Brothers Grimm tale,The Robber Bridegroom is a musical fable is full of puppetry, murder and curses. Put on by the Stars and Garters Theatre Co., the show runs through the 15th at the Voice Factory. 1519 Mission St. Tickets are available on a sliding scale, from $12-$20. Show starts at 8pm. more ›

Brian Eno's visual imagescape 77 million paintings premiers tonight at Yerba Buena with a 45-foot wall of projections of changing images set to an evolving soundscape. Tickets are $25 unless you're a student or senior. No word on whether Eno will be there...but it seems worth it all the same. 701 Mission St., SF. more ›

--CounterPULSE is hosting Paint Out!, a breast cancer fundraiser with comedians, slam poetry, and women getting their chests painted ($50 mininum donation to get painted). 3:30-7:30, $25, 1310 Mission St. (x 9th). more ›

The 3rd annual Queer Women of Color Film Festival kicks off tonight, at the Brava Theatre. Over 40 movies in three days. Check the schedule, grab some popcorn and enjoy the show(s)! 2781 24th St (at York), SF. more ›

If you still haven't checked out any of the awesome exhibits at the Asian Art Museum, swing by around 5 for Matcha, their monthly mixer with live performances, gallery tours, drinks and more. DJ Tonk, a top Japanese hip-hop producer will be spinning till 9pm. $5 after 5pm, 200 Larkin St., SF. more ›

It’s like someone threw a net over the Mission District circa 1972 and moved it south a couple miles. An overly simplistic description of this block at the heart of the Excelsior? Perhaps. But it’s more accurate than you might think. Didn’t some leisure suit-clad wiseguy in a Corvair convertible blaring an 8-track of Cosmo’s Factory just turn right onto Ocean Ave.? Or did we imagine that? The no-nonsense block of Mission St. between Brazil and Persia Sts. coldly swaps out the Beauty Bar for a dimly lit tavern called Pass Time, and Medjool for four austere Chinese joints and a closet-sized Filipino place specializing in palabok. Awnings could use an update. Shop fronts are less than shiny. There is no valet in sight. This utilitarian swath of businesses and budget eateries may not take home the crown if pitted in a glamour pageant against its celebrated rival up the way, but it stands a good chance to win the boxing match in a 15-round TKO. more ›

What happens when nearly 30 local artists create works of art made entirely from reclaimed and recycled materials? Head over tonight (or sometime this month) to find out at the Market Street Gallery for ReArt: The Art of Reuse. till 5pm, 1554 Market Street,SF. more ›

Ever misplaced a grocery or to-do list? Your lost note could appear in Lost and Found in the Mission, a play based on true stories salvaged from scraps of papers found around the Mission District. The production, by Boathouse & Co., includes songs, dancing, beat-boxing and mass hallucinations. Tickets are available on a sliding scale ($15-$25), here, show starts at 8pm. Mama Calizo's Voice Factory in the Jon Sims Center for Performing Arts, 1519 Mission St.,SF. more ›

Here's what on tonight around the city - assuming you survive the Zombie Mob Invasion... more ›

Can you still remember how to roller skate backwards? How about shoot the duck? For $2 skate rentals, you can give it your best shot at Mighty to the tune of really bad (or really good, depending on how you look at it) disco music. 7pm, 119 Utah Street, SF. more ›

1833 Page St., SF. more ›

Don't feel like taking advantage of free first Tuesdays at the MOMA, De Young, Yerba Buena, Legion of Honor, Conservatory of Flowers or Asian Art Museum? Try these on for size. more ›

Comics 4 Comix: Have you ever been to the Cartoon Art Museum? Neither have we. Head there tonight for a great cause. An overlooked gem in San Francisco, the Cartoon Art Museum is having its annual fundraiser and silent art auction, starting tonight at 7 pm. Come bid on original comic strip art from both local and national cartoonists, including including Dan Piraro (Bizarro), Frank Cho (Liberty Meadows), Phil Frank (Farley), Lalo Alcaraz (La Cucaracha), and Lynn Johnston (For Better or For Worse). On the stage will be a slew of stand-up comics, including Michael Meehan and Kurt Weitzman. Thirsty Bear and True Sake provide the libations and Rainbow, Whole Foods, and Canton Dim Sum are among the suppliers of snacks. Tickets are $20 and all proceeds go to the museum. Cartoon Art Museum, 655 Mission St, SF. more ›

What happens when you give visually impaired children cameras and ask them to capture their everyday life? Come find out at this exhibit for a new book by Tony Deifell, Seeing Beyond Sight: Photography by Blind Teenagers. Accompanying the revelatory photographs is commentary and reflections by the artists. If you can't make it tonight, the show runs until May 12 but stop by around 6 until 8pm to catch a glimpse of the photographs in the book, meet the author and see clips from an upcoming documentary film. SF Camerawork, 657 Mission St. more ›

Ah yes, the weekend. Finally! It's been a hectic week-- earthquakes, landslides, the whole Kenneth Eng fiasco, those purple latex gloves-- where will it all end? We don't know but we could sure use a drink and a good old fashioned shindig-- too bad that most of the Noise Pop shows have sold out. We've put together a list of runner-ups for the weekend in the city. Sure, its not Ted Leo, Cake or The Donnas, but you can get just as drunk for half the price. Here's a rundown of the haps: more ›

It wasn't that long ago that everyone we know was doing everything they could to avoid pregnancy, but as we approach our 35th birthday (what, did we mention that already?) we're noticing that some members of our social circle are at the point where they're having to do more than just "try" to conceive. more ›

Hey, creepy crawly poker fiends -- our ghostly sources pass along the following spooooooky news! (A little goblin tells us to expect a game that's kind of a cross between Texas Hold 'Em and Twister.) more ›

As the saying goes, Muni helps those who help themselves, so if you're hoping for some kind of fare relief any time soon, don't count on getting a hand from our fearless local transit agency. As you surely know, fares go up to $1.50 starting Thursday, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Luckily for the Bob-Cratchety among us, Muni's introducing a "Lifeline" bus pass this month, at a rate that's reduced by TEN WHOLE DOLLARS! Wow! All you have to do to get one is ... um ... er ... well, nobody's really sure. Have you seen any info, anywhere, about how to pick up a lifeline pass? We did some highly journalistic digging around and unearthed a Top Sekrit Ph0ne Numb3r -- it's 415-557-5900 -- to hear a prerecorded message about the new pass. You can only buy it on the last business day of the prior month or first three business days of the current month; you can only buy one between 8am and 4:30pm; you can only buy them at 170 Otis St and 3120 Mission St; and you can only get one if you're on public assistance like Medical or CalWorks, or if you've gotten the Working Families Tax Credit. more ›

The results are in on our first ever blind item guessing game, and while EssEffist was a little disappointed in the response (come on, isn't your one goal in life to find out compromising things about otherwise succesful people?) we did get enough responses that we thought could, possibly, in a completely non-libellous way be entirely maybe true. Lucky for us and our lawyers, there's been a tie! We received an equal number of votes for both Town Hall and Bacar. Both are relatively new, both chic, both doing well. Hmm, that doesn't really narrow it down, does it. Could it be Doug Washington, Maitre d' and co-manager of Town Hall? But he's just so good at his job! Other guesses included Lulu, the gas station featuring a Burger King and a Starbucks (which we all know is evil) and the Mission St. Denny's, although that was apparently a customer-on-customer spank request. Thanks for all your guesses! Keep an eye on Leah Garchik's column, and submit your own blind items to the editor if you have some dish that just must see the light of non-libellous day. more ›