While no one in their right mind could accuse Sarah Palin of fostering an environment of violence that resulted in Saturday's Arizona shooting rampage - as SFist dutifully noted, accused shooter Jared Lee Loughner is sanity-esstrangerd and thus acted alone - her now infamous, career-ending "Don’t Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!" map was an unfortunate bit of timing and thoughtlessness. more ›

In cyberspace, "trolling" is when someone posts a deliberately controversial comment, not because they really wanted to say it but because they wanted to provoke an angry, emotional response from strangers -- kind of the online equivalent of insulting someone's girlfriend in a bar, or heckling a comedian, or snapping your towel at someone in the locker room. more ›

We’ll admit, we’ve been aloof to the A’s and this season’s American League West proceedings, what with the Athletics getting ready to juke their hometown for Fremont. But oh baby, do we have a new reason to root for the A’s to engage in some serious divisional ass-whooping. more ›

Bay Area filmmakers Arne Johnson and Shane King present Girls Rock! The Movie, a highly moving documentary about Portland's Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls, a place for girls ages eight to eighteen to learn an instrument, form their own bands, write songs, make friends, and then perform in front of 700 people -- all in a week's time. The film is opening in seven cities today -- San Francisco, Berkeley, Portland, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle and will be opening in over thirty cities nationwide throughout this spring and summer. The filmmakers will be at all of the Embarcadero screenings today and tonight for Q&As, and Shane King will be there tomorrow at the 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. screenings. Check out this great interview with Arne and Shane over at Mental_Floss. more ›

For more info and to win tickets to the show and an awesome prize package, take the jump... more ›

Nicole Atkins starts this week off strong with some soulful tunes from the Jersey shore over at The Independent, starting at 8pm. She's crazy-cool and has a voice of gold. If you're more of a rocker, than get to Cafe du Nord early to see Cold Hot Crash and Filter play. It looks like the only way you can buy tickets is at the door and there's not too many of them. A Fine Frenzy, an alternative singer-songwriter and pianist headlines at Cafe du Nord on Tuesday night. She'll be supported by the talented Ferras and the English rock band, Ben's Brother. Again, get there early, the only way you'll get tickets is at the door. more ›

Lance Farber, the 47 year old new age chiropractor boyfriend of our new city planning director John Rahaim, who last weekend set their bed on fire and smeared crushed tomatoes all over the historic landmark apartment the city had put them up in, had a brief appearance in court today, where his bail was set at $1 million. Farber would have been in court longer, except that his attorney, noted local criminal lawyer (and Matt Gonzalez for Mayor campaign treasurer) Randy Knox, said Farber's been suffering terrible migraines ever since he set the place on fire and fled the scene. more ›

We're a little late to this story, in part because we spent all day yesterday trying to separate out the hilarious comments from the offensive ones on SFGate.com (it looks like the homophobic ones have already been taken out as of today) -- but in a nutshell, last Friday, Lance Farber, the 47-year-old boyfriend of the city's new planning director John Rahaim trashed their temporary apartment, which the city put them up in and which is located in the ceremonial fire chief's house in downtown SF. more ›

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For as much as everyone pretends to be indie coffee house-loving, Starbucks-hating, people of god -- we're not. Especially when we're lazy. If we're in the financial district and want our half-caff, venti macchiato with a double shot of sugar-free vanilla and only want to walk two steps from our door to get it, so be it. We're going to Starbucks. But NOT, however, on February 26th between the hours of 5:30 to 8:30 PM. All Starbucks across the US will be closed during these hours (local time) to "[Demonstrate] Unprecedented Level of Commitment to Partner (Employee) Coffee Education and Training." At least, that's according to the Starbucks press release. more ›

href="http://torontoist.com/2008/02/phototo_snowbal.php">photographing a big, organized snowball fight.

We were in Seattle this weekend, and came across this Volvo in Wallingford. While we may not be hip enough to know what the kids at the Rickshaw Stop are going to be wearing this weekend, we do know that none of them have a car that embodies this amount of anti-hipster hipster cool. Wow. more ›

Now that donuts have made a return to Bay Area coffee houses--minus its exhausting Homer Simpsonesque, white-trash irony--you can find the preferable pastries at places like Ritual Coffee Roasters (vegan! and actually good!), Seattle's Best at Border's Books & Music (double-glazed), and even Starbucks (plasticky). With the return of the donut comes the return of the brewed coffee. At least, according to today's New York Times, which profiles the Blue Bottle Cafe, scheduled to open today this week, and their bizarre Jules Verne-ish coffee contraption. The first-prize-at-the-science-fair-like machine is poised to make coffee's tarnished reputation shine again. more ›

The NFL's 2008 Wild Card Wknd has arrived at the same time as this rainstorm front... more ›

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Earlier this month we mentioned that The Decemberists' five-night engagement at the Fillmore was canceled. It was going to be the highlight of our week, but we guess tofurkey will just have to do. This week, our picks are Travis who are playing with Maximo Park at the Fillmore tomorrow night. Friday night at the Fillmore, The Drones (listen to "Shark Fin Blues" here) are opening for Band of Horses, an indie-rock band based... more ›

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... more ›

According to the Scarborough Research -- an institute that measures the lifestyles, shopping patterns, media behaviors, and demographics of unholy, evil American consumers -- San Francisco was ranked as one of the top markets for people who read or contribute to blogs. Yay. And, duh. more ›

It really is all about the other side of Market Street now. more ›

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" it comes as no surprise / we're destabilized " * Seattle vs. San Francisco Sunday, September 30, 2007. 1:00 PM, PST. Week 04 The Surpriseless Battle This is it, the game that will tell whether the 49ers can seize the lead in the NFC West by taking down the Seahawks. * Photo of Frank Gore breaking away via the Chron. SF swept the series last year, even as SEA won the division, so you... more ›

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. Standouts: 1. Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails Red Wine (w/ Bonus DVD): Hands down, one of the best CD's of 2007. Eskimo Joe released "Black Fingernails, Red Wine" as their debut single in the US in August. Their CD already went quadruple platinum in Australia (it was released in 2006). The quiet application of the piano combined with the melodramatic... more ›

Seattlest watches as a S.L.U.T. is born and Seattle Flickr users go nuts over a local art installation. A restaurant critic demands a Diner's Bill of Rights over a gnat next to her drink, and, in lieu of a Portlandist, Seattlest debates with itself over the identity of the Northwest's crown jewel. Seattlest also joins the guys from Fantagraphics for an ill-fated gun party in the woods. more ›

Thank goodness. Let the blessed distraction begin. For just a little while, there there be kickoffs and touchdowns and the illusion of a level playing field. Tonight, it's time for the National Football League's 2007 regular season to begin. Wonderful. more ›

Hey, all you singles in San Francisco/Oakland, looks like you live in the right place. Our fair city was tops in Forbes 7th Annual Best Cities for Singles Report. more ›

John Vanderslice is someone you can truly count on. Aside from his incredible talent, we're always impressed with his indie rock work ethic. He keeps his studio Tiny Telephone open as an incubator for top quality recordings, he's always good for a genuine smile and a hug when we run into him, and about once every 18 months or so he releases another incredible album through Seattle-based indie Barsuk Records. His latest release Emerald City offers a somewhat gentler take on his always-unique melodies and music and a move towards even more intricate and adventurous lyrics. In the first song alone, he sings about the kookaburra tree, frangipane, bundestag and terabytes. He builds and inhabits fantastical tales and delivers them in such a convincing way as to make you believe he lived through them. In honor of John playing a free show at Amoeba Records at 2pm on Saturday, we're giving away a copy of Emerald City to two lucky winners. Listen to "White Dove" and enter to win. (Contest ends 8/14; winner will be notified via email.) more ›

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With "Survivor" out of the way, we can now concentrate on "The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman." Oh joy! We'll admit we've been reading a lot of gossip about the show, rife with spoilers, and while those spoilers might not be true, we kind of think they are. We won't spill the beans here, but we'll just say it's kind of taken the suspense out of the whole thing. And we'll also add: we knew it all along! more ›

Greg Novoa of San Francisco was the 45 millionth visitor to Seattle's Space Needle. 45 million is the key number because the ol' needle just turned 45 years old. It's great news for Mr. Novoa -- he's been awarded five days and four nights in Paris, France for being in the right place at the right time. Nice! more ›

The nicer the weather gets, the busier we get across the Ist-A-Verse. But we like being busy. Here's a peek at what we've been up to since last week! more ›