(By Micke Tong) While observing Bay Area artist Scott Greenwalt's work, we can't help but imagine a real-time transmutation taking place. Humanoid deconstructed body parts, follicles of hair and organs are displayed with high contrast and a rich colorful palette. Scott shows us a very labyrinthine technique of paint strokes, which depicts polygonal shapes (plane figure that is bounded by a closed path) and branches of veins. more ›

(by Micke Tong) We were first introduced to Unspeakable Projects, a live/work gallery located in SOMA, at Art Pad SF, which took over the rooms at the Phoenix Hotel in the Tenderloin district last spring. The first image we came upon at Unspeakable Projects' booth at Art Pad was an intricate painting of an anonymous figure tea bagging a portrait of President Ronald Reagan. Although political in nature and sophisticated in technique, we knew that Matt Momchilov had the potential to make waves in the contemporary art scene. more ›

Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky stands accused of pedophilia and sexually assaulting several young boys, some as young as 10. Among other graphic accusations, the assistant coach reportedly molested some of the victims inside the school's locker room shower. more ›

On its site today, Google announced that they purchased dining and entertainment guide Zagat for an undisclosed amount. Thrilled with the company's recent purchase, Google VP Marissa Mayer noted, "Moving forward, Zagat will be a cornerstone of our local offering—delighting people with their impressive array of reviews, ratings and insights, while enabling people everywhere to find extraordinary (and ordinary) experiences around the corner and around the world." more ›

It's been quite some time since Chronicle food critic of note Michael Bauer yanked the star from a ho-hum restaurant. Updating his initial two-star review of the Presidio-based food joint La Terrasse, Bauer left displeased compared to his 2007 visit. He rips: more ›

The lovely Michele Mandell brings word that noted KQED restaurant-review show Check, Please! Bay Area is looking for a few good reviewers. Might you be one of them? The rules, in addition to being camera-ready, are as follows: You must be at least 21 years old, you must be willing to travel to and participate in a taping at KQED studios in San Francisco, you must be free on a weekday for a few hours, and you must be able to travel to any restaurant location within a 50-mile radius of San Francisco at your own expense. more ›

"Is it too little, too late for Zagat?" That's what TechCrunch asked after Zagat finally - finally! - gave its site a much-needed facelift. The new site boasts Zagat restaurant reviews, new stats, links to third-party reviews, user photos and rankings. But. It's pretty much Yelp with a Zagat whiff of fanciness. Will it take off like Yelp? Probably not, at least not here in the Bay Area. Not too long ago, Menu Pages tried to break the Yelp's Bay Area stronghold to no avail. [TechCrunch, Eater] more ›

Fu Manchu, Dusted Angel, and a bunch of dudes with beers turned Bottom of the Hill into the ultimate party on 1/22 by Erick Pressman Fu Manchu are one of those bands who have been at it for years and while they may not have achieved the status and notoriety of their more infamous peers like Clutch, Queens of the Stone Age, or High On Fire, they've managed to set hooks into one of the most ravenous and loyal fanbases in all of music. more ›

A Sun That Never Sets Settled In Over The Tenderloin This Weekend: Neurosis Returned Home For Two Rare Live Performances 1/15 and 1/16 more ›

by Aislinn Fletcher “Eat the highest quality of food you can in small quantities so your brain is happy every day.” -- Pastry Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer Saturday night’s screening of the movie Kings of Pastry at Balboa Theatre was a special treat. The film showcases three pastry chefs as they prepare for an incredibly grueling French pastry competition. These are the Olympic athletes of French pastry, devoting their lives to perfecting recipes to impossibly high standards. more ›

Chicago metal band Yakuza will be performing at Slim's supporting Triptykon and 1349 on Saturday night. Here's what Erick Pressman had to say about their new album, Of Seismic Consequences. by Erick Pressman more ›

Get thee to Alcatraz. We Players artistic director Ava Roy brings the Prince of Denmark to The Rock, with chilling results. by Naomi Kirsten more ›

by Erick Pressman SF Docfest kicks off this Thursday evening with the Bay Area premiere of Every Day Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone, followed by a post-screening Q&A with the filmmakers and the band. Fishbone will also be performing live at DNA Lounge after the screening. Here's what SFist's punk expert Erick Pressman had to say about the film: more ›

There’s sex, love, and betrayal in the Fall Paris Review. Prepare to be seduced. by Naomi Kirsten more ›

by Rebecca and Quinn Miller We grabbed two delicious veggie burgers from Sparky’s 24 Hour Diner, regaled by our statuesque server on how his psychic powers were coming unveiled by the full harvest moon and the autumnal equinox. Heads full of moonlight, we headed over to the Swedish American Music Hall for a book reading by Joe Boyd with musical embellishment by Robyn Hitchcock. Boyd was a man in the right place at the right time - 60’s London, where he discovered, signed and produced some of the greatest English bands of the era, as detailed in his memoir White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s. more ›

Former S.F. Mayor and SF Chronicle dilettante Wilie Brown recently supped at Tres Agaves, Sammy Hagar's Mexican food in SoMa, and was less than pleased. It turns out management didn't press their lips against his buttocks the food was less than undesirable, according to Da Mayor. more ›

Eater has a handy list of reviews (professional, Yelp-y, and otherwise) about Hubert Keller's Burger Bar. It seems too early to tell, but people sorta like the place. SF Weekly's Meredith Brody asks if it's just "Cheesecake Factory with black truffles," while 7x7 says the food there is "perfectly satisfactory." What we want to know is: why the black panties on display, Hubert? WHY?! more ›

Alastair Macaulay, writing for The New York Times, gave a rather stilted and mixed review of the San Francisco Ballet's current staging of Balanchine's "Jewels," honoring several of the dancers but getting fussy about the conducting and lighting. (We're not sure we've ever read a ballet review that didn't sound stilted and fussy, but whatever.) "Jewels" is an evening-length triptych which has been called a "Balanchine primer," revealing three distinct facets of the choreographer's style and featuring music by three composers: Fauré, Stravinsky, and Tchiakovsky. It's playing in repertory at the War Memorial Opera House through May 10. Find remaining dates and purchase tickets here. more ›

SFist reviews "Indestructible" the autobiographical account of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) sufferer Ben Byers. more ›

We volunteered to meet and greet sell Noise Pop merchandise to festival attendees who often ended up spending all their money on band merch (as if) and/or beer (or more specifically in Cafe Du Nord's case -- Fernet Branca and Poppy Jaspers). It was quite a fun experience though, and we highly recommend it. Contact them about volunteering at next year's event! more ›

While we can't agree with Grandma Joy on her dismissive review of , because our love for self-indulgent vanity pieces knows no limits, we can agree that "Movies With Grandma Joy" is adorably informative, addictive. more ›

Q.) What are theees "Queens Of The Stone Age?" A.) That'd be a band that makes hip-shakin' heavy rock 'n roll for adults. more ›

Without a doubt, we think that every Australian in San Francisco was at Bottom of the Hill last Wednesday to rock it out with Australia's hit band, Eskimo Joe. We speculated when we first walked in but weren't positive - the "background" music was too loud to actually positively i.d. an accent. Halfway through the show the lead singer, Kavyen Temperley, asked for all the Australians in the house to scream. We were the only... more ›

Our hockey correspondant Ian continues his look at the Sharks season with player reviews. more ›

Jumping into a quickly growing crowd, we looked down at our watch and it said 8:45pm. What was Ingrid Michaelson already doing on stage? Right before leaving our house, we checked the website: 8pm - Doors Open, 9pm - Show Starts. Boy, were we surprised to find out Michaelson had already been playing for 15 minutes. Maybe it's fate, karma or maybe just bad planning but this is the second time we've missed Michaelson's full... more ›

We'll admit, with a bit of shame, that the first time we became aware of Nick Drake, it was during a lame commercial for the VW Cabrio. Except, the commercial wasn't lame because the song in it was so awesome. We didn't buy a Cabrio, but we did buy some Nick Drake CDs, and that's pretty much the only thing we've ever been thankful to Volkswagen for. more ›

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Run-ins with Sean Penn and figuring out how McCandless died, after the jump. more ›

The dogumentary does an admirable job of setting up the history, the controversies, the doggie (and human) drama and provides lots of interesting tidbits (after WWI, dachshunds were the "freedom fries" of their day and had to be called "liberty pups" so they wouldn't be murdered due to all the anti-German sentiment in the country). more ›