-- Toshio Hirano: Local country music star -- alongside his trusty bassist, Kenan O'Brien -- croons tonight at 9 p.m. at Amnesia; free. -- San Francisco Contemporary Music Players: David Milnes leads this nineteen-member strong group of experimental and orchestral musicians, many of whom are already members of the San Francisco Symphony, Ballet, or Opera Orchestras. Starts at 8 p.m. at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts; $10-27. -- Arse Elektronika's Afterparty: Tech-, machine-sex......

Friend of SFist Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp's CEO and co-founder, just shot us this note: "Guns drawn in front of Yelp office..."...

Get that gigantic backpack and sleeping bag and trek on over to Cody's Books on Fourth Street, as Tony and Maureen Wheeler, the founders of Lonely Planet, read from their new books, Unlikely Destinations (the story of Lonely Planet) and Bad Lands (Tony's trips to dangerous countries). If you can't make tonight's reading (7 p.m.), they're in town through Friday, reading at Get Lost in SF tomorrow night and Book Passage in Corte Madera on......

--Another shooting in District 5. And a man robbed at gunpoint in the Sunset. --Jerry McNerny, the man who unseated Pombo, is having a fun time in Congress. --Yikes! A guy took a 2-foot machete to the pizza store manager when his pizza took about 45 minutes to deliver. We feel there's a lesson there for everyone involved in this story. --People are unhappy about the private San Francisco Day School's proposed expansion plans.......

To: commenter Hank Essay From: your friendly local blog SFist! Re: commotion at New Montgomery and Mission earlier today We saw your question in the Opera post about some commotion going down at New Montgomery and Mission this morning, and have the following information to pass along. --They arrested a shooter in SoMa this morning. (NOT related to the Loft 11 shooting, as we'd originally posted -- sorry!). We also found some more news about......

Some organization we've never heard of and could probably care the less about, the American Institute of Architects, put together a list of the Top 25 Bestest Buildings in San Francisco. Look for attendant show on VH-1 featuring snarky comments from Hal Sparks, Ian Michael Black, and Rachel Harris. ...

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:...

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......

Submissions go to Yvesdroppings - at - gmail - dot - com. Don't forget to keep your ears to the ground at company holiday parties; they're fertile ground for this stuff. Woman on cell phone: "If you ever get nominated for the Grammies, you are SO taking me as your guest." -- From Edward/Montgomery Street Station Dude: "WHOOOO! I cant wait for Jason's tart!" -- From Tim/Berkeley BART Tightly-clad woman: "The governor -- the......

Send your submissions to yvesdroppings - at - gmail - dot - com. Hoodie Girl: I think only residents of the dorms are allowed to bring in guns. -- Outside an Academy of Art building Lady on cellphone: I don't care to exercise with people who I see socially. -- Yvesdropped on by Bill, at Draeger's Market in Menlo Park Hipster: There's nothing more pathetic than a naked man falling down. -- Orbit Room......

Recently, we read in P.J. Corkery's always entertaining column that a few San Francisco stores are closing. They include the Disney Store (good riddance), Torrefazione Italia (yay! More Starbucks!) and the Rand McNally store on Market & New Montgomery. We know, we haven't been the ones who've been big on the saving old buildings and stores, but the closing of Rand McNally makes us sad. Photo by Mark Jordan on CitySearch San Francisco......

At the corner of Market and New Montgomery this afternoon, we spied a large sign reading, "#%*&! IF YOU HATE TAXES! UP WITH FREEDOM!" And we're a little confused. What exactly are those swear-symbols masking? "F**k if you hate taxes"? "S**t if you hate taxes"? Or perhaps a somewhat milder "Ass if you hate taxes"? (SFist's self-imposed no-curse-words rule makes it somewhat awkward a subject to explore here.) Perhaps due to our own pre-existing......

We said we were gonna make it, and we did, and it was pretty awesome. We're going to suggest that if SFist Interviewee Olivia Ongpin throws a party, do your best to make it out. Three top DJs in two top venues, and even some top artists painting during the party. The best part was the roving bands of scenesters migrating from event to event, turning the corner of Minna and New Montgomery into......

You know, it's getting so that we can't leave the house these days without running into an angry mob. This evening, during our nightly constitutional through downtown San Francisco, we were startled to turn a corner and crash into an absolutely massive procession - about a thousand people - furious about, well, the usual stuff. Bush; Iraq; capitalism; racism; 12 cruxgrozenical galaxies. One moment, nice quiet downtown stroll - the next, a huge mass......

You might want to express your support for our city's striking laborers with just the big smile and the thumbs-up for the next few days -- the police have started fining people who honk in support of picket lines -- but only if the picket lines are in the financial district. ...