*CRAFT: Knitters and crocheters come together in harmony tonight over at the (newly remodeled!) Three Dollar Bill Cafe. Don't know how? No worries. Someone will be there to teach you. Happens every Monday. Q&A: Ask Dr. Hal is back. One time fixture over Chicken John's the Odeon (RIP), you can now find Hal over at 12 Galaxies. So head on down to Mission Street to ask him whatever pressing questions are on you mind......

Okay, before you ask, this is not the much-beloved Our Locals On Reality TV Project Runway recap, this is the SFist Symphony review -- we'll explain later in the post. We had a little San Francisco Polyphony of our own on our way to the SF Symphony concert yesterday night to see Gyorgy Ligeti's shimmerily-dissonant orchestral piece of the same name -- the driver of our MUNI bus finally got fed up with people sneaking......

Egads. This one is almost out of a horror movie, except that it's, well, real. Last night San Francisco welcomed in another murder, this time at 26th Street and Mission a little before midnight. An eyewitness told police that a man being chased down 26th Street near Mission Street when he tripped and fell to the ground. The killer then caught up to the victim, shooting him several times. The murder suspect then fled......

MUNI-related pneumonia-seekers may want to try waiting for the 14 Mission -- Mission Street is closed between 20th and 21st. It looks like something involving the former Tower Theatre -- a fire truck has a long ladder extended up to the top of the sign. A couple more pictures after the jump.......

Although no longer in danger of collapsing, the Irish fraternal organization on San Francisco's Mission Street is still on fire, ten hours after it started. Yikes. Rita reported on this earlier today, but according to many media outlets (including Curbed) the place is still on fire. And not in a good way. My word. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Image credit: Sarah Hromack / Curbed......

In case you missed the packed ReadyMade party last night or were too distracted by all the cute people and free drinks to actually get any holiday shopping done here are some more events where you can spend some money and get your buzz on. Tonight Post-Postcard 11th Annual Small Format Art Sale The LAB 2948 16th Street @ Capp 1-7pm Free Originally starting out as a postcard show, the LAB now invites artists to......

The art world is beside itself with the launch of Red Cake, a website that has finally made hipster art cheap, like it should have been all along. Everything's $350 or less, which means that for the price of a nice printer, you can buy a drawing of a deer to hang on your wall. Or a hat that looks like a sea creature. Or a sculpture of some worms. Or the great American......

-- "Not guilty," says you know who. [Chron, Examiner, ABC 7] -- Beautiful, steel, and glassy Rincon Hill (and its streets) want a little love, too, you know? [RinconHillSF] -- The Cesar Chavez/Mission Street condo debate goes on (and on). SF Board of Supes decide tomorrow. [Beyond Chron] -- Crunchy New College is on accreditation probation because of "sloppiness." Whoops. [SFGate, via SFBG] -- Although we're partial to show tunes and a good five-hour......

It's that time of the year again for San Francisco magazine's Best of the Bay party. The annual bash features lots of eats, drinks and chances to win prizes. Be prepared to fork over nearly a bill for your ticket here -- but as an added bonus it will also get you into the afterparty at Slide. San Francisco Concourse Exhibition Center, 635 8th St. Come watch contenders for the Air Guitar championship title......

We are giddy with glee to welcome Richard, author of the Sparkletack blog and podcast, to the SFist family. Richard's encyclopedic knowledge of San Francisco's past makes his history podcast mandatory listening for anyone who cares about the city -- where we came from, how we got here, and why we're so bizarre. His expertise stretches back hundreds of years, and we're totally hooked on his ability to link modern-day San Franciscoisms to their......

There was an early-morning explosion just before 7 a.m. in an apartment building on Mission Street near Geneva, in the Ingleside Excelsior neighborhood. The explosion blew out the windows of the dry-cleaning business located on the bottom floor, spraying glass all over Mission Street. The authorities are still investigating but note that they've been called to that address for drug-related activities before. And to tie this all to two other hot topics at SFist: 1)......

This weekend is gonna be ginormous, with Bay to Breakers,the Maker Faire, the Prince and Bjork shows - so dive right on in with tonight's top picks: Party with Viv! and celebrate the Jolika Collection at the de Young. Experience the art of the Polynesian islands, from 5-8:45. Sample Kiwi wines from 6-8pm and stay to check out a live dance performance by a professional Maori dance company at 8. The Vivienne Westwood exhibit......

You've got one week left to drive your car up and down Jessie Street. On May 11th, the street closes between Mint and 5th Street, to be turned into a pedestrian thoroughfare with trees and cafes and planters and niceness. This conversion is a process known as "hey, let's make that place suck less." Judging by some of the concept art, it'll look very pleasant; even the clouds in the beautiful blue sky will......

Chris Daly gives a ride to a frind on his bike...

Haight Ashbury Free Clinics' ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Integrated Care Center...

After the supposed success in levying an injunction against the Oakdale mob, City Attorney Dennis Herrera is thinking about seeking an injunction against two notorious Mission Street gangs, the Sureños and Norteños. ...

An event will be held today in yet another effort to Free Josh Wolf. Wolf, of course, is the video blogger/journalist being held in jail for contempt of court for not releasing the hottest video out there that doesn't involve a celebrity having sex with somebody else. And thank God for that but we'd love to see the alleged video of Britney and K-Fed playing chess. ...

Wow, there's a whole lot of benefits for worthy causes going on this weekend, as well as a head-spinning amount of other stuff to do: Friday that's tonight, and it's the kick-off for Creativity Explored's (3245 16th St. at Guerrero) Annual Holiday Art Sale, a bargain hunter’s paradise of original artwork by artists with developmental disabilities. And it’s all on sale for rock bottom prices – many items as low as $5. Creativity Explored......

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,......

A reader attending the Oracle OpenWorld convention, who wants to be credited as "someone who's there," passed along these pictures of the scene under the tents on Howard Street. Yes, people, they closed off your city block so attendees could eat roast beef and fried chicken in wax-lined paper boxes in peace. The Howard Street tent apparently seats "thousands." Keep their conventioneering stomachs in mind as you get diverted onto Mission Street, everyone! More......

Last week's winner, the East Bay Express: Hey, the EBX is starting a blog -- we hear those are very trendy. But they've got us listed as a link, right below the Culture Blog, so it's all okay! Bottom Feeder mocks the errors made by the Bay Guardian in its East Bay endorsements. Would you buy expensive organic meals prepared by these folks? Confrontational atheists meeting near Walnut Creek. Cover article: the woes of air......

We're thinking there is no one in the Chronicle offices this afternoon, as they all seem to have raced over to the grand opening of the Westfield San Francisco Centre mall. Check out these amazing pictures that they're taking! Because we clearly have nothing to do around here, people have been lining up since 4:30 a.m. this morning to see the new retail space -- and C.W. Nevius took a break from decrying moral decay......

We're off to the Off market Theater (965 Mission Street) for the final performance of local bad boy Harmon Leon's The Infiltrator Goes USA. For only 10 bucks, you, too, can witness this "brand spanking new show with brand spanking new videos and tales!!!!!!" -Harmon gets booked on a Christian talk show, posing as a guy who fronts a Christian speed-metal band. -Harmon joins a civilian vigilante group of senior citizens called the Minuteman Project......

It's our column about the District 6 election! This week's episode: Everybody Hates The Numbers. The Chron's finally paying attention to the Board of Supes races -- choosing to kick off its "we profile the candidates" series with the "South American country" that we call District 6. (they call the district South American because of the great disparity between poor and rich, and not just because of the tasty Peruvian restaurants on Mission Street.) As......

Check out the YBCA's (701 Mission Street) Sampling Oakland exhibition in the midst of live music and performance from Oakland arts organization 21 Grand. For years, Oakland has been sprouting performance spaces, galleries and collective live work/environments where musicians, writers, filmmakers and visual artists of every discipline influence each other's work. It's a vibrant artistic community fueled by vision and self-determination. YBCA brings a piece of the excitement surrounding the First Friday art crawl across......

Brave the perennially grey skies of the Excelsior and head on down to the Progressive Organizing Center's (4760 Mission Street between Persia and Russia, how glamorous sounding!) Grand Opening tonight from 6-9. This office, which was "created to fill the demand for free or low-cost progressive campaign office space", is intended to "house progressive candidates and campaigns serving the community with events and meeting space." Tonight's event features speakers, entertainment, and a potluck meal, so......

Good news! The cops caught the last week's Golden Gate Park sexual assaulter. They caught him after he unsuccessfully attempted to assault another woman in the area (but fled when her children saw him), and after he exposed himself to a number of children as well. What a creep. Shootout in the Mission -- an altercation between teenagers robbing numerous stores on Mission Street and angry Mission residents witnessing the crime spree ended in gunfire......

Saturday: We're going to the The Dark Room Theatre (2263 Mission Street, between 18th and 19th Streets ) to see "San Francisco’s only sketch tragedy group" The Problems' comedy variety show The Problems With Books. The show's at 10 p.m. this and every Saturday until May 27. Sunday: We're going to A Musical Benefit For Gwen Avery at the Brava Theater Center (2789 24th Street ). Avery, a local blues legend, has recently fallen......

As we were cadging a ride home from SFist Eve on Saturday night, we squealed with delight as we drove down Mission Street. Right by Yerba Buena Lane, there's a big sign: BEARD PAPA'S COMING SOON. What? You don't know about Beard Papa? Beard Papa is the Japanese cream puff store with cream puffs as big as your head, and beloved by team Gothamist (and team LAist too.) The last time we had a Beard......

After a weekend spent eating Girl Scout cookies and watching It Takes A Thief reruns, we're ready for something a little more intellectually active, like the art shows we've listed below. Lisa Dent Gallery (660 Mission Street, 4th Floor) Hank Willis Thomas March 3rd – April 8th, Wednesdays through Saturdays 12-6 In his second solo exhibition in San Francisco Willis Thomas presents “Unbranded: Reflections in Black by Corporate America,” a follow up to his......