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....

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. Oil Spill Response Fundraiser Doc's Clock Friday, November 16 6 pm - 2 am......

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......

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......

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....

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. Considered to be the largest underground hip-hop event in America, Scribble Jam kicks off at 9pm at Slim's. Come check......

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. Other haps: Cyndi Lauper, Erasure, Debbie Harry plus host Margaret Cho at the Greek Theater in Berkeley at 7pm. Feel......

--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). --It's the last day of the Queer Women of Color Film Fest at the Brava Theater (2781 24th St., x York). Today's program: Short documentary showcase at 3 p.m. and love stories at 7 p.m. Free. --Bzzzzzzzz -- it's also the last......

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. Get your daily art fix in high style -- check out a rare selection from Picasso's body of work at the W hotel on view from 12-7pm, with a wine tasting from 6-7pm. RSVP for the......

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. David Lyle's solo show opens today at the Heather Marx gallery. Taking inspiration from vintage photographs found at thrift stores and flea......

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....

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 art for the month of June - local artist David Benzler had been all over the thriving Mission district art scene for the last several years. His latest work......

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......

Here's what on tonight around the city - assuming you survive the Zombie Mob Invasion... Carnaval weekend in SF jumps off at the Great American Music Hall, with Sila and the Afro Funk Experience. Afro-Brazilian, Afro-Funk, Afro-Latin beats get the party going right, starting at 10 pm. Tickets are $18, 859 O'Farrell Street, SF. Emerging San Francisco fashion designs show off their wares at the De Young tonight.Designers Jasmin Zorlu, Gregory Sovik, Antonio Luna,......

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. Drink your way through San Jose's historic Japantown at Sake San Jose, a tasting tour of downtown San Jo. Sample the sake offering from......

Rant Chuck Palahniuck will be at sponsored by Booksmith tonight around 7 pm, reading from and signing his latest book, Rant, about a serial killer who's weapon of choice is...rabies. Booksmith, Park Branch Library, 1833 Page St., SF. Garden of Deadly Delights Head over to the Conservatory of Flowers to feast your eyes on a greenhouse full of carnivorous plants! Chomp! opens today and runs through Nov 4. The Red Party A socialist themed......

SFist Jenna enjoys leather seats, lots of legroom, and DirecTV for every passenger! Also -- those Teddy Bears are awesome. 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. Bargain Alert! Wino Tuesdays: Head over to Levende Lounge for half-priced bottles of wine with dinner, 5-11pm with downtempo house with resident DJs.......

SFist Jenna sees you in the funny pages! 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......

Seeing beyond Sight 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......

Tonight at the venerable New Langton Arts (1246 Folsom St between 8th and 9th), it's the Opening Reception for Myth by Method, an exhibition that explores the unfolding of narrative through drawing, video, collage, sculpture, and music, with works by SF's Katrina Lamb and New York-based collective Lansing-Dreiden. Lamb and Lansing-Dreiden share an interest in synthesizing the realms of art and music, creating works that resonate with mythology, fantasy, and even daily life. The reception......

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:...

Tonight at the Darkroom Theater (2263 Mission St. at 19th) is the Miss American Fido Show, a comedy spoof of American Idol and an "open mike" contest to find the worst act in SF. The Producer and Host of the show is Mark Tyne, the Music Director for the "Blood Splatter Theater" group Primitive Screwheads and the self proclaimed "King of Bad Entertainment". During the show performers of any age, with any act, are......

We see it all the time, and we are fairly certain there is good money to be made doing it - public art is the topic of tonight's workshop in Southern Exposure's SoExchange series of artist-led workshops. How Do I Make My Art Public Art? features panelists, Seyed Alavi, Louise Bertelsen, Packard Jennings, Wang Po Shu, and Rigo 23. It takes place at the Mission Cultural Center (2868 Mission St at 25th) and covers how......

Activist film in the Mission - At El Rio (3158 Mission St. at Cesar Chavez), outside on the patio, The Heads Up Collective presents The Take, an inspiring documentary, filmed during the factory takeovers in Buenos Aires, that centers around one auto-parts factory, and of the lives and struggles of the 30 unemployed workers who decide to reoccupy, collectivize, and get it going again. This screening is part of the monthly radical film series, Televising......

It's another East Bay/West Bay collision! After months of Sampling Oakland, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (701 Mission St. at 3rd) sets its sights on Berkeley's Kala (rhymes with ta-dah) Art Institute for an exhibition entitled, Cultivating Creativity: In Residence at Kala. Vampiric gesture or reflection of an "ongoing commitment to celebrating local arts organizations," no matter, check out the work of current and past Kala-affiliated artists working in printmaking, digital media, photography......

First the heartwarming - George Mark Children’s House and UCSF Children’s Hospital present a sneak preview screening of the live-action remake of Charlotte's Web at the Loews Metreon Theater (4th and Mission). The screening benefits GMCH and UCSF, each of which offer unique contributions to the continuum of care for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. The remake of Charlotte’s Web features an all-star cast including Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey, Kathy Bates, Robert Redford......

We don't know about you, but we are a bit drained from the excitement of last night's election and constantly "refreshing results" while our better half patiently indulged us. It is this sort of compulsive behavior that led us to swear off ebay. But we digress. We're feeling like some instant gratification tonight, and this event should fit the bill. YLEM presents “How Techies Have Fun," a show and tell featuring moving light sculptures,......

We're being civic-minded tonight, which translates to giving you the scoop on election night parties. SFist Rita has already filled us in on the District 6 celebrations, though we don't know where Manuel Jimenez' shindig is happening. We hope he's not still mad at us. Music for America is hosting a big screen, non-partisan as far as District 6 is concerned, election results-watching party at 12 Galaxies (2565 Mission St. @ 22nd) with DJs.......

Courtney Love is scheduled for a book signing event at the Mission Bay Borders (200 King St. @ 3rd) to promote her "multi-textual memoir," Dirty Blonde. According to the official PR, the author will only sign her new book at this event. We assume that means don't bother asking Ms Courtney to autograph her late husband's albums or any appendages or pharmaceutical containers. (7pm) While we're not in the giving advice to celebrities business,......

We know that SFist has been a bit snarky about Congressional candidate Krissy Keefer, so we'd like to make amends by promoting a great event presented by Dance Mission, an organization that Ms. Keefer co-founded. Manifesti-val is Dance Brigade's three week long Festival of Dance and Social Change. Tonight, catch No Peace. No Rest. by E.P.I taph, an evening of new, cutting-edge, political works. From transgendered housewives to beatboxing aliens, from underworld angels to......