Photo of a funny sign in Golden Gate park...

Photo of one of the dead birds killed by our oil spill...

We were coming back from our Labor Day we're-outta-here yesterday and saw this over the hills to the north. It was big enough that we turned on the radio to make sure that nobody had bombed downtown San Jose. No terrorists here, but the Lick Fire is plenty scary on its own. Good luck to the firefighters who are trying to contain this beast.......

Oh lord, what's to be done with these people? It's every week with the loud speakers in Dolores Park, blasting devotional music and testimony and dogma and so forth. You can hear them from blocks away. They're not there to persuade anyone; like Critical Mass or Dore Alley, these aggressive displays of difference just reinforce the gulf of "we're totally unlike you," rather than adopting the shrewd Scientology approach of "hey, look, this is......

Everybody found the famous hillside slides very entertaining. Remember to bring your cardboard! The Koret Children's Quarter in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park had its Grand Opening Celebration this morning. A relaxed Mayor Gavin Newsom was on hand along with Supervisors Jake McGoldrick and Ross Mirkarimi to welcome the large crowd. You could even ride the carousel for free. Things appeared to go smoothly today, in contrast with one report of parental bird flipping and......

On Monday, three people are each making their respective 500th open-water swim to Alcatraz and back. Swimming's hard! And the water's cold! And they won't be wearing wet suits. But these three guys have obviously had few problems doing it again and again, and each have significant open-water swimming accomplishments to boast of....

Uh oh. All that work, all that lobbying and compromising, all those broken promises, all those clipboards -- and nobody showed up for the first Healthy Saturday. Yikes. We've got lots of pix up on Flickr. A biggish swath of JFK Drive was opened to pedestrians this Sunday; and maybe it was the gloomy weather, or Healthy Saturday's newness, or the fact that it's damn near impossible to find a map of the pedestrian......

We were skeptical about the plan to open the Panhandle DMV lot for public parking. But Lisa Zahner, the city's Divisadero Corridor Manager, reassured us that the Planning Department doesn't anticipate a rise in traffic levels, since the surrounding streets are already so busy. And in fact, traffic might improve, since drivers won't have to circle the block to find parking. Not only that, but the city's hope is that people will use the......

We checked out the completely re-done Pirate’s Cove trail as we neared the end of our loop hike yesterday in the Tennessee Valley area. Wait…Pirate’s Cove? Yep! This particular little cove was a favorite spot for rum runners during Prohibition, hence the name. The Pirate’s Cove Trail was redone as part of the Golden Gate National Recreational Area's (GGNRA) Trails Forever initiative, and they’ve done a fantastic job. ...

Drove out to China Camp State Park with Sufjan Stevens on the stereo singing about Chicago. The air sat heavy with oil from the Eucalyptus trees and salt from the Bay....

Prices on everything, as always, are going up-up-up. National Park entrance fees appear to be no exception under the administration's current plan. Starting next January 1, for example, Yosemite's gate fee is set to climb to $25 from $20. Okay, just five bucks for now, but future increases are set to be tied to inflation and could increase by $3/year. Walking or biking into Yosemite would increase by a bit too, to to $12 from $10....

It looks like there might be peace in our time as a deal is in the works over the whole Healthy Saturdays thing. Apparently, city officials are trying to work out a compromise between fans of the plan and supporters of the Dede Wilsey Shrine to Her Wilsey-ness. No details have emerged yet, but apparently Gavin has been meeting with both sides to figure something out. ...

To Little Miss Golden Gate Park, princess of the City,

Honey, I'm sick of you and your flat-ass panhandle getting all the attention. You think you're the only park in the whole City of San Francisco? Well listen up greenbeard, 'cause it's time somebody showed you the real San Francisco.

You know that sparkling brilliance that lights up the night sky south of Chavez? That's me GG, and my name is Miss McLaren Park -- Lady McLaren if you're nasty.

That's right Cutters, the Italians are coming, along with the French, the Spaniards, the Americans, the Germans, the Dutch-- yeah, even the Dutch. They're all going to be in the City this weekend to compete in this year's Amgen Tour of California.

We're talking the real deal. This isn't some club-level Saturday morning crit for free tubes at the local bike shop (no offense), this it the best road cyclists in the world, competing for top-tier elite international cycling teams like Discovery Channel, CSC, T-Mobile, Rabobank, and more, in serious competition.

p>Feeling quite adventurous, a few weeks ago we decided to test our legs on Mix Canyon Road a bicycle ride located just on the western side of Vacaville. We've heard amazing things from our biking friends about this road ("23% Grade! -- Steeper than the Steepest Part of the Tour De France!") and wanting to work off a little of our post-holiday gluttony thought it would be good for us.

A snowstorm hit Tahoe and other outlying areas today and while it's a huge pain for drivers up there, it's all good for ski resorts. So far this season has been far below the normal amount of rainfall and as a result, only a few resorts are open, mainly with man-made snow. That's why today's snowfall is a big help. In fact, many of the resorts are saying they're going to be able to open up a few more runs over the weekend. ...