Love it or hate it — pst, we love it — the new playground in Dolores Park got a wee bit of a makeover with some fun street art. Jeremy Novy painted some of his famous koi on the rubber matting. You like? He also drew some clouds and a line of ants, both of which are sure to delight the thong of kids playing in the park again. Mission Mission has more images for your enjoyment or disapproval, depending on which side of the street-art fence you sit. more ›

And so we begin yet another fun series, which may or may not stick, wherein we'll make note of eye-grabbing window displays, for better or worse. Today's item: a Polk Street smoke shop attempts to stand out from the competition. more ›

We always assumed self-consciousness, not price, kept people from marking their bodies with tattoos. But here we see a gaggle of ink fans queued outside Let It Bleed tattoo parlor on Polk Street, waiting to take advantage of a Valentine's Day special. SFist contacted Let It Bleed for more details. They explained: "We had a sheet of Valentine themed tattoos for just $25." more ›

Shot at Ardenwood Farms in Fremont, Flickr user sunmallia captured this group of monarch butterflies. "It took me a long while to really see them as they look like a clump of dead leaves but when I did see them it was amazing," sunmallia said, adding, "they mostly stayed in clumps and every now and then the clumps would flutter. Am amazing site to see for sure." more ›

Although this SFist contributor couldn't make it to the little bluegrass concert in the park last weekend, we kept hearing mention of lots of hippies saturating the event. To echo that sentiment, friend of SFist and Outer Sunset resident Kevin McCracken snapped the above photo... more ›

When SFist caught a glimpse of this sign in front of Luscious Wear on Polk yesterday, we first noticed no connection to Burning Man the event but were instead forced to imagine burning man loins, something we'd rather not imagine on Polk Street. more ›

Another locally-owned, neighborhood theater bites the dust today. The Haight-Ashbury's beloved Red Vic is set to close its doors for good after tonight's final screening of the endearingly morbid Hal Ashby classic, Harold and Maude. Naturally, both shows are sold out. more ›

A photo/video contest called "Why I Choose Oakland" will award the grand prize winners two round-trip tickets and lodging if they can deftly and cleverly captured why they choose to live in Oakland. The instructions are simple: Upload a photo or video (3 minutes or less) that exemplifies why you "choose to live or own a business in Oakland." Add a brief description, then visit Oakland's Facebook page to vote. You may vote once per day for each category. So, you know, the winner might not be the best recipient. more ›

There are countless stories to tell in San Francisco, but sometimes a picture says so much more that mere words. Each Tuesday or Wednesday, we present to you 7 Reasons. (Our sister site LAist does the same thing, which we found too inspiring to resist.) Much like Photo du Jour highlighting a nifty image shot by readers, 7 Reasons features photos from the SFist pool on Flickr showcasing the uniqueness of San Francisco. And with that, here are 7 reason why S.F. is, for lack of a better word, rad.
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You've seen their work featured here on a regular basis. Now see them and their images in person. On Thursday, Travis Jensen and Josh Sullivan will hold a reception for their new photo show, The Streets of San Francisco, held at Schroeder’s Restaurant. The two will showcase" a diverse mix of urban landscapes, candid street scenes, and street portraiture," according to Jensen. more ›

Berkeley photographer Steven Winter (Dr Speed) sent Berkeleyside this astounding image of the tsunami making its way to Emeryville. Excellent work. more ›

Bernal Heights at its most Bernal Heightsiest, shot by Troy Holden. more ›

We're not sure what's going on here, exactly - the brown in the water is probably dirt rather than fecal matter - but Bernalwood came across this scene today in Bernal Heights. Todd_Lappin reports, "While rebuilding the new sewer line on Bocana today, our friends at the City Department of Public work unleashed a spurting dirt-fountain on the neighborhood." more ›

Construction work continues smoothly on the new Bay Bridge today as seen from Treasure Island. more ›

In great anticipation of the big riots last night, the Union Square Walgreens locations decided to be paranoid proactive and board up their windows. A few other locations were boarded up as well. Yet Barney's, Saks, and countless other posh stores remained sparkling and ripe for looting. Except SFist Jay tells us that Sephora was also boarded up because one thing looters like is upscale cosmetics. more ›

SF Citizen illustrates that many San Francisco residents evidently opted for staying on their couches or attending the rained-delayed Giants game, anywhere but Sunday Streets. (It looks like SFist's bold declaration that rain wouldn't stop the fun was incorrect!). Lots of folks might have also been tired out by the countless festivals that took place yesterday. more ›

A friend of SFist shot this photo of the two-alarm fire that took place yesterday afternoon on Bush Street between Mason and Powell. It was contained in one apartment (although it looks like a few other apartments might have seen some damage as well), and crews were able to put the fire out within fifteen minutes. No one was injured. more ›

Update II: Sorry, y'all, last night's update needs an update -- we were a little out of it from the Super Bowl imbibing. It's not clear whether the person using the wheelchair lift was actually in a wheelchair, just that they fell from the lift and were taken to the hospital. [Cue the Benny Hill soundtrack here.] Twenty minutes later, during the initial investigation, the bus lurched forward for some unknown reason, and nailed the fire hydrant with the wheelchair lift. Then the airborne hydrant hit the Muni investigator in the head, who was treated at the scene. Water from the hydrant caused flooding in at least one of the nearby buildings. See SF Appeal for more info. more ›

Dapper man riding a bus in Berkeley. more ›

About an hour ago this morning, Aileen Tat snapped this shot of a truck blaze at 25th and Geary Fulton. We're not sure if this is the work of the carsonist -- which we doubt since the recent spat of car fires take place in the dark of morning -- but we'll update as soon as we know more. more ›

Like this. more ›

As much as we try not to do 'caption this!' posts, we couldn't resist this one. more ›