Well, the bad news is still that we've hit a 12 year high for homicides in the City and County of San Francisco, with two weeks left to go in the year. On the statistical side, though, the SFPD year to date murder count has moved down by three victims, from 100 to 97. What happened to those three victims? Well, they're not any less dead, unfortunately. Rather, three of them were reclassified into non-murders.......

Reporting from the snow-dappled streets of Chicago, it's your American Football Spectacular preview for this Saturday night's battle at The Stick as The Queen City's feline football franchise comes to town....

Former SFist editor Jackson West boasts that at the "last sample sale [he] came away with five hats for forty bucks." You don't get better testimonial than that, folks. Also, heads just look adorable in hats -- more so than you would think. Sure, those of you who suffer from extreme ovalarity of the visage might want to re-think the chapeau as a fashion statement. But for most of us, the hat not only......

SFist interviews Onion editor, Joe Randazzo...

By Dianne de Guzman Although it took awhile, we've finally recovered from the Yelp holiday extravaganza at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. As to be expected Yelpers know how to throw a party! There was an open bar, plenty of food to go around and lots of dancers, hula hoopers (hula hoopists?) and girls running around in Yelp underwear. More pictures after the jump.......

Joe Frazier was once quoted as sayin' "Kill the body and the head will die." For an NFL offensive unit, the opposite is the case. And here comes the context: it's your American Football Spectacular preview for lucky Week 13 of the 2007 NFL season....

Third opera in November, third reaction from the audience at curtain rise. After the enthusiastic applause for La Rondine's shiny marble sets after the bleak and silent shock of Macbeth's hole-in-the-wall sets, we got the giggles after catching sight of The Rake's Progress' opening oil field. The patrons were willing to entertain an oil well and a 1950s Americana re-setting that dramatically differs from Stravinsky's original 18th Century,even though they were a tad skeptical.......

Reporting from spa-side in Santa Ana, it's your American Football Spectacular preview of the next rung of pain on the agony ladder that is the 49ers' '07 season....

Well, he does not care for our image, but still: same thing. Well, we went to this last Saturday's open casting call for Gus Van Sant's latest project, Milk. (Based off of the life of former San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, etc. etc...you know the story -- well, at least you should.) It was our first-ever open casting call, in fact. We were nervous. And totally unprepared. When we arrived on the scene, all......

The new Maltese Falcon at John's Grill is less "pigeony" (Image: The Colbert Report). Applause to John's Grill owner John Konstin, who decided to put some money into the arts. When the Maltese Falcon replica displayed in the restaurant was stolen earlier this year, Mr. Konstin offered a $25,000 reward for its return. The heartless culprits were never found, however, and Mr. Konstin decided against buying an inexpensive replica or "fake," as the momentarily-panicked......

Let's be honest, we were never really Maroon 5 fans. (Ick, right? Right.) We've never turned off their music if it happened to be on the radio but we've never, by choice, listened to it on our iPod. It is not because they are bad or hate their music - we've just never really cared to listen to them (voluntarily). Maroon 5 picked the best band to open for them, The Hives because they......

So foul and poor a play we haven't seen. At least, not during this San Francisco Opera season. That is, until now: behold, the vile production that is Macbeth. It's easier to count the things that went right, because there were so few: Thomas Hampson (fan), the Adler fellows, and Raymond Aceto, who all more or less shine. The rest, sadly, was pretty awful. You know you're in for a long night when you're forced......

It's been a mighty tough season to be a 49er fan; what with the bevy of broken expectations, the death of Bill Walsh -- and this week -- the passing of former Head Coach Dick Nolan. * San Francisco vs. Seattle Monday, November 12, 2007. 5:30 PM, PST. Week 10 The Battle Of Unnumbered Tears Before the 2007 season started, this week's game was to be the proving point, the crucial matchup where the rising......

Angela Gheorghiu, the diva, made her SF Opera debut on Wednesday evening, in Puccini's La Rondine. That she made it onstage was somewhat of an accomplishment; she just had been fired from a production in Chicago for missing rehearsals. She was attending her husband, French tenor Roberto Alagna, concert at the Met, it seems. (Alagna's claim to fame has been walking off the stage at La Scala in the middle of Aida, after being booed.......

Walking on stage dressed in school boy suits, that would suggest that these five band members are in Harry Potter's entourage, we suddenly knew we were in for something special. The colors of their suits, black and white, did not match with their in-your-face, loud, rock-star sound. Chris Dangerous (Christian Grahn), the drummer, took the stage first. With his face, but mostly his eyes (Tyra Banks would be proud), Dangerous would look at different spots......

By Frances Reade Eugene Robinson has been the leader of S.F.'s most dangerous art-rock band Oxbow since 1989. We don’t mean Oxbow is "dangerous" as in "Tipper-Gore-no-likey." We mean "dangerous" like “Eugene is known to lurch into the crowd mid-set and strangle irritating audience members into unconsciousness." "Dangerous" as in "the man strips down and brandishes his pee-pee in a threatening manner onstage." "Dangerous” as in… "awesome." Besides slinging 18 years of sweet, sludgy......

But, and we hate to admit it, they sure do look pretty together. (The image above has been set as our desktop background!) But as attractive as oil and water looks on rain-soaked driveways and in Carmel-y art pieces, it's not worth it when it's in our Bay. It tends to cause inexcusable damage. (Where, like, fish and mermaids and stuff totally die, you know.) Take, for example, this morning's container ship that rammed......

We love this picture of *NSYNC's out memoirist Lance Bass at a Halloween party at the Clift Hotel - love love love love love!!! (Are we the only people mildly interested in reading his new book, "Out of Sync," to see if he names anyone else in the pop world who might be gay?). Thanks to Drew Altizer for sending it along! Drew, SFist's favorite photographer, also sent along an assortment of pictures from......

Londonist got the big scoop of the week with what may be the first images of notorious street artist Banksy in action. They also got on a runaway train without an operator provoking a response from the transport authorities. Elsewhere, London's answer to Central Station is about to open for business, and Londonist got a sneak preview. Meanwhile, spooky goings-on beneath London Bridge, where a cache of skeletons provided an apt story for Hallowe'en.......

Continuing the tour of pain through the ex-members of the NFC West, this week the 49ers visit the the wreckage that once was the Atlanta Falcons....

Recently we featured The Kin in the weekly music column, New Tunes Tuesday #4. We did this for a reason - they've recently become one of my favorite bands. Just as we were impressed when we saw them for the first time at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia in June, we were equally impressed with their West Coast debut performance this week at The Independent. Instantly the audience responded positively to the well-blended vocals,......

If you fell in love with Sia when you were bawling your eyes out about the Fisher family then Thursday's night concert is for you. Sia, our favorite Australian pop singer, is coming to the Fillmore this Thursday. We recently downloaded her newest EP, Lady Crossiant - a live recording from New York's Bowery Ballroom. There is also one new track, Pictures, that is worth listening to as well. Breaking News Update: This tour......

This past Wednesday was New-Yorker night in Civic Center: the classical music critic, Alex Ross was promoting his new book at Herbst theater, and we attended the production of the Magic Flute designed by Gerald Scarfe, who regularly illustrates the magazine. Scarfe toned down his usually acidic satirical pen (see the sample from his website that we put after the jump) to cook up sets that are humorous, and respectful of Mozart’s intent. The set,......

We always love it when Drew Altizer sends over his latest A-list pictures for us to peruse! Here's a memento of Drew's trip up to the North Bay last week, to San Anselmo to see Robin Wright Penn at the launch of the EcoMom Alliance, about encouraging mothers to take social action. (More pictures from the event here.) Thanks for sending the picture along, Drew! We don't suppose you found out one way or......

Between the black n' purple checkered floor and the burlesque porn that was playing in the TV over the bar, we knew we had entered the perfect world's most interesting venue, Bottom of the Hill. (We continued that thought as we ventured into the sticker/grafitti laden walls of the cramped men's bathroom.) Bumping into Chris Reynolds, Eulogies' drummer, at the merchandise table before the show was unexpected as the porn but we digress. After a......

The 49ers venture into the wilds of Jersey this Sunday to war with the New York American football Giants....

This is strange. And gimmicky. But, hey, it's $1,000! Here's the deal: Jalopnik is offering $1,000 to someone who snaps up and sends them an image of a yellow 2009 Corvette ZR1 at Laguna Seca this weekend. Money goes to the "first person who sends [Jalopnik] shots of the full 'vette in all of it's glory in the paddock and out on the track," they claim. So, if you're in Monterey this weekend watching......

The SF Public Library's holding a good old-fashioned photo drive! One day only! Today! They're looking to add to their Historical Photograph Collection, and they need your help -- but heterosexuals need not apply. Ha ha, just kidding, heterosexuals can help too! But seriously, they don't want pictures of straight people. The "Shades of LGBTQI" project is looking for donations from the community; they want photographs -- physical or digital -- that have something......

Bad day on the transportation front yesterday: so someone got stabbed on a MUNI bus yesterday afternoon around 1 p.m. at 16th Street and Mission, and on the morning commute, southbound 880 near Hayward was completely snarled after people discovered body parts all over the highway. Turns out a person walking on the highway was hit by several cars early in the morning. And on Wednesday night, an AC Transit bus was in a seven-car......

Augie March, looking a bit haggard - maybe a little drunk, performed their second set of the day - earlier they made an appearance at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival at Golden Gate Park. This didn't stop the Melbourne based band from rocking out their eclectic mix of music at Slim's on Friday night. Their music ranges from pop in "One Crowded Hour" to folk in "Bottle Baby" then jumps head first into the......