The Great Shutdown be damned. Let's get this Memorial Day weekend started with Carnaval in the Mission, the Golden Gate Bridge's 75th Anniversary celebration in the Marina, Yo-Yo Championships in Golden Gate Park, photo walks in the Mission and Castro, Treasure Island Flea, and free music in Yerba Buena Gardens and Golden Gate Park.
SFist This Weekend: Carnaval, Golden Gate Bridge 75th, Treasure Island Flea, And More!
SFist Tonight, 5/10: Photolucida's Top 50 Photographers
Tonight, arts nonprofit Photolucida presents its 50 best contest winners from across the globe, Potrero Hill area restaurants raise funds for Daniel Webster Elementary School, and a new piece of outdoor art goes up at Hayes Valley's Patricia's Green.
Astoundingly Super Super Moon Photos
The spectacular Super Moon didn't disappoint on Saturday night, as photographers throughout the world captured breathtaking shots of the once-every-decade-or-so occurrence. Here are a few remarkable shots that photographers snapped across the Bay Area.
SFist Tonight, 3/24: 'Intimacy and Voyeurism'
Tonight, members of the Society for Photographic Education focus on the boundary between public and private domain, Big Daddy Dean plays a free jazz show, and solo performer Tina D'Elia puts on a one-woman show.
SFist Tonight, 3/21: George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic
Tonight, turn this mother out with George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, acquaint yourself with the wide range of compelling work by award-winning photographer Sally Mann, or explore alternative transit and more through dance with ODC's Dance Downtown.
SFist Tonight, 3/17: Sickboy
Tonight, head over to White Walls early for a gift bag from Sickboy, get schooled by Sage Francis at the Independent, or peruse the work of street photography students at Glass Key Photo/Rookie Records.
SFist Tonight, 3/15: History Of AIDS Activism Photography
Tonight, view black and white photography documenting the history of Bay Area AIDS activism, soak in the sounds of a composer by day and DJ by night, or reflect on human fragility through intimate performance art.
Video: Aerial Footage Gets Up Close With SF Landmarks, Taunts Bison
Using an HD camera strapped to a remote-controlled helicopter, (a new cinematography technique that's been popping up everywhere from protests in Poland to local real estate listings) visiting videographer Robert Mcintosh filmed this dizzying aerial tour that takes us under, over and around San Francisco landmarks. We're especially fond of the bit (at the 4:10 mark) when the chopper buzzes a cable car before floating down Lombard Street. Let's see you do that with your news chopper, KTVU Channel 2.
14 Reasons To Love Arthur Tress' San Francisco 1964
In the summer of 1964, just before San Francisco turned into an epicenter of groovy vibes, a 23-year-old Arthur Tress traveled by bus from Mexico to San Francisco to visit his sister. Thank God he did. Otherwise we might not have had this astounding collection of photos, soon to be on display at the deYoung. Showcasing a work that reflects old and new aspects of the city, Tress explained to Time, "I was thinking as a kind of amalgam, all these little bits and pieces, almost as if you're making a collage—a symphony of the city."
Weekend Top 5: White Elephant Preview, From A To Zin
White Elephant Preview Sale: Oakland Museum's huge annual White Elephant Sale is coming up on March 3rd and 4th, but this Sunday from 10 to 4 p.m., you have the chance to get first dibs on some fabulous items, including several vintage silk wedding gowns, gallery quality prints, musical instruments, books, sports memorabilia, and anything else you can imagine. Check out their gallery of stuff that will be on sale tomorrow.
SFist Tonight, 1/18: Rayko's Plastic Camera Show
PHOTOGRAPHY: Rayko presents its 5th Annual Plastic Camera Show, featuring the work of local, national, and international photographers who were picked from thousands of entries, including Robert Holmgren, a past best-of-show winner. (6 to 8 p.m., Rayko Photo Center, 428 Third Street)
The Abandoned Couches of San Francisco: Volume 2
It's been over a year since we first took a look at San Francisco's abandoned living room furniture. After local photographer Erik Wilson introduced us to the Sofa Free Flickr Pool, he and other upholstery-obsessed local photographers have been keeping busy snapping photos and gathering info for whatever the furniture version of a homeless census would be. Here are the highlights from the SFist Flickr pool in all their gritty, seated glory.
SFist Tonight, 11/29: Metal Mother
MUSIC: Oakland's Metal Mother, aka Tara Tati, will bring her "fresh bath of melancholic emotion, bubbled with loud tribal drums, futuristic synth leads, and sweetly haunting Celtic-inspired vocals" to Cafe Du Nord, along with Horns of Happiness, Mortar and Pestle, and Birdseye. (7:30 p.m., Cafe Du Nord, 2170 Market Street)
SFist Tonight, 11/21: Annie Leibovitz, Marc Horowitz, Public Speaking
PHOTOGRAPHY: Legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz will be Diesel, A Bookstore in Oakland signing copies of her new book of photographs, Pilgrimage, which starts at Emily Dickinson’s house in Amherst, Massachussetts, travels to Niagara Falls, to Yosemite, to the English countryside and "even further afield." (7 p.m., Diesel, A Bookstore, 5433 College Avenue, Oakland)
Couple's Rad 'Star Wars' Engagement Photo Shoot
In related Star Wars news, photographer Michael James recently took part in an engagement photo shoot, one that breathes new life and (ahem) force into a stale tradition. Specifically, these pre-wedding photos of a Bay Area couple who really, really like Star Wars. Featuring a pair sporting Sith and Obi-Wan Kenobi garb, James shot these two in various Lucasian action positions in parts of the forest near the UC Santa Cruz campus in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
SFist Tonight, 11/15: Celluloid Salon, Dawes/Blitzen Trapper, Photographer Barbara Traub
FILM: Head over to Public Works early for some free Drambuie at Celluloid Salon, a series which "breathes new life into the audio-visual experience, pairing obscure silent film shorts with soundtracks curated (and DJ'd live) by today's boldest musical talent." Be sure to RSVP first! (7 p.m., Public Works, 161 Eerie Street)
SFist Tonight, 10/27: Ann Magnuson, Zombie NightLife, Plato's Home Movies
ART: Performance artist, musician, and actress Ann Magnuson, who defined 1980s downtown New York, brings her new tribute cabaret to SFMOMA with a nod to Bowie featuring a song cycle of his early 1970s work and incorporating "dreams, Jung, human sacrifice, Aztec shamanism, and all things dark, bloody, and beautiful." Come in your most artful garb and enter SFMOMA's glam costume contest! (6 to 9:45 p.m., SFMOMA, 151 Third Street)
SFist Tonight, 10/20: Open Show, Queer Literati at Occupy SF, Burlesque for the Shy and Awkward
PHOTOGRAPHY: Open Show, which organizes live events worldwide featuring the work of photographers, filmmakers, and multimedia producers in high-profile spaces, is celebrating its two-year anniversary with a special print exhibition featuring more than 60 photographers from 25 Bay Area shows. (5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Rayko Photo Center, 428 Third Street)
SFist Tonight, 10/8: Pam Ann, Rock Photographer Lynn Goldsmith, 'Better a Live Ass Than a Dead Lion'
COMEDY: There will be a few tickets available at the door to see Pam Ann aka Australian comedienne Caroline Reid, "the fashion-flying, hard-drinking, A-list hostess to the stars," who's "touching down" in San Francisco after a sell-out 25-date European tour -- just in time to kick off Fleet Week. (6:30 p.m., Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street)
SFist Tonight, 9/24: 'Top Gun,' Hell's Belles Pinewood Derby, 'Moholy Ground' Launch Party
FILM: Homoerotic gem, Top Gun, will screen at the last Film Night in the Park of the season. Be sure to catch that delicious volleyball scene (if the inflatable screen doesn't blow away, that is)! (8 p.m., Dolores Park, Dolores and 19th)
Ye Olde Transit Porn
This goes out to all of you who get clammy-palmed as soon as you see your favorite F-car rolling up to your stop. Oh Milano, you come on smooth with that designy orange and classic woodtone, but you're so heavy on the rails. No matter; we love you with all our hearts and Clippercards. Blackpool, you're a topless show-off and you know it.
SFist Tonight, 8/13: ReGeneration Photography Show, Bootie 8th Anniversary, Opera Early & Ancient
PHOTOGRAPHY: The group exhibition, ReGeneration, will feature eight artists who occupy either side of the “generation gap.” Each of the veteran photographers from the Baby Boomer generation have been paired up with an up-and-coming twenty-something photographer to explore the potential for artistic dialogue between the two groups. (5:30 to 9 p.m., a.Muse Gallery and Meeting Place, 614 Alabama Street)
SFist Tonight, 8/4: 200 Yards, Hard Shorts, 'Ratatouille'
PHOTOGRAPHY: The latest edition of 200 Yards, which is centered around Cafe Royale, opens tonight with a party co-hosted by The Tender. Check out all the interesting scenes that the artists captured within 200 yards of Post and Leavenworth. (As someone who used to live a stone's throw from the cafe, we imagine it will be an eyeful.) (8 to 11 p.m., Cafe Royale, 800 Post Street)
SFist Tonight, 8/2: The Kinsey Sicks, Maria Bamford, National Night Out
DRAG: Tonight kicks off the legendary Kinsey Sicks' 13-day “GreatesTits,” show at the Rrazz Room, in which the group showcases the "harvest of their 17-year Mary-making" featuring their trademark "rich, four-part harmony, biting satire and over-the-top drag." (8 p.m., The Rrazz Room at Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason Street)
"Tenderloin USA": Astounding, Black-and-White Look at the 'Loin
Over the last year, photographer Travis Jensen and fellow All-City photographer Brad Evans worked on a remarkable photo documentary book about San Francisco's Tenderloin called Tenderloin USA. Their work takes a black-and-white look into the heart of the Tenderloin, with a sharp focus being on the characters who live, work, own businesses, hang out, and raise families in the 'loin.
Harvey Milk Photo Center Seeks Entries for Open Studio
Most savvy photographers about town probably already know about the fabulous, decades-old Harvey Milk Photo Center (50 Scott Street), which is nestled at the top of Duboce Park and housed within the equally fabulous Harvey Milk Arts Center. The building was recently remodeled (and then unfortunately vandalized). More to the point, have you checked out all the great classes both places offer?
Thursday: Photo Show 'The Streets of San Francisco' Opens
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.
Deemed 'Too Serious,' Ritual Coffee Bans Artist's Work
In what could be seen as the continued Starbucks-ification of Valencia Street, brick-and-mortar coffee purveyors Ritual Coffee Roasters recently pulled the work of photographer Varese Layzer. It was considered "too serious" for the cafe's walls. While neither visually offensive nor too harrowing at first glance, the exhibit centered around the death of a the artist's mother. Upon reading the artist's statement after the show went live, Ritual owner Eileen Hassi later stripped the walls of Layzer's art and sent her a gracious (albeit somewhat perplexing) letter of explanation, which was then posted to Layzer's Flickr account. Here's what the letter said:
SFist Tonight, 6/24: Annual Pride Concert, 'A Floorless Room Without Walls,' 200 Yards
Tonight, get your glee on at a one-of-a-kind Pride concert, stare at the ceiling instead of the walls for a change, or admire some Dickerman Prints in their natural habitat.

