The Weekly's All Shook Down blog has this new interview with local DJ Jeffrey Paradise (the artist formerly known as Jefrodisiac), who along with DJ Richie Panic started Frisco Disco at Arrow Bar a few years back, and who's now helming a monthly '90s party at 111 Minna called Club 1992. The general idea is more Backstreet Boys and Yo MTV Raps! than Seattle grunge, and Paradise feels like nostalgia for the '90s has finally come into its own. more ›

Apparently if you weren't at this enormous grand opening party/fundraiser at the American Steel warehouse in West Oakland on Saturday, then you missed something pretty huge and fun. We, alas, were not, and therefore we, like many of you, must live vicariously through these pictures via Laughing Squid. They had 200 tons of sand dumped into the warehouse to set up their very own Burning-Man-in-the-City, beach party extravaganza, and many a hip kid danced to DJ sets and frolicked in one of five above-ground pools. Economic hard times breed creativity, so we look forward to catching wind of future happenings at this awesome looking art collective. more ›

Yes, everyone: The LGBT Pride Fest and Parade in San Francisco is the largest and best attended thing of its kind in the U.S. (and for those who've seen the fests in NY and LA this shouldn't be a surprise). This year, in the wake of Prop 8 and the Don't Ask Don't Tell bullshit, the parade on Sunday will come with a renewed sense of urgency and protest. But of course, for most lesbians and gays about town, this weekend is primarily about partying. So without further ado, here's a guide to all that's going down, in a gay way, this weekend. (Special thanks to The Sword - NSFW) more ›

Last Saturday night, the YBCA opened its doors for a large-scale, mixed, queer-friendly, *very* San Franciscan party called "What's the Big Idea?" featuring food from the Mission Street Food "taco" truck, galleries open until 3AM (including the Sisters' archive show, and the amazing collection of "soundsuits" created by Nick Cave, which are basically like enormous, haute couture muppet costumes from another planet -- see video of them here), a Sisters' fashion show called Project Nunway, live tattooing, performances by drag queens Anna Conda and Monistat, and music from DJ Dirty Knees and the DJ collective Honey Soundsystem. SFist was there, and fairly wasted, so all we have are these few lousy pictures (look out for a full video of the event from the SF Appeal). But trust us when we say a good time was had by all, and the food -- particularly this deep fried fennel sausage slathered in aoili and onion jam, and a pork belly "taco" that was pure grease heaven -- was fucking fantastic. The museum also may have found a few new devotees after this event, since they were offering free lifetime memberships to anyone who agreed to get the YBCA logo tattoo'd on themselves.* more ›

The weather was hot and nice and a good time was had by all -- except those in heavy gorilla suits -- new regulations be damned. (Some pics NSFW!) more ›

Senator Arlen Specter, the 29-year Senate veteran from Pennsylvania, announced today that he was changing his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat. In a statement, he said, "Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans." One motivating reason: Specter is lagging behind a challenger in the Republican primary. President Obama told Specter, "You have my full support. [We're] thrilled to have you," and now the Democrats have a near-filibuster-proof majority—they'll have it, if Al Franken is ever seated in Minnesota. The GOP, reportedly caught off-guard, is calling an emergency meeting. SFGate points out that Specter's "legacy as former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee was seating [the] two conservative Supreme Court justices...Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito." more ›