What better way to celebrate Independence Day than with new plays that unapologetically explore the state of the nation?...

Have you checked out the eBooks and eAudio at the SFPL? We're itching to try out the audio options, but they don't have anything that works on Macs or iPods. Boo! After a weekend double feature of In Cold Blood and Capote, both never seen before by SFist Rain, she got the urge to actually, finally, read the book that was (in a sense) responsible for both films: Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. It......

Geez, the SF Public Library's site is sloooow today. We might not have the patience to make any online reserves, and might have to head straight to one of our fine local independent bookstores. Yes, folks, it's that kind of day. SFist Cheshire is trying to get into Jonathan Lethem's Fortress of Solitude, but so far it's a little impenetrable. Too much writerly acrobatics for Chesh's taste in the first 40 pages or so.......

We've never had much occasion to use MapMuse, an interest-based interactive mapping service. That is, until we saw that now they're mapping independent bookstores and book clubs. We think that this is pretty damned neat. Between that and the SFPL's online reserve system, we might not ever have to brave Barnes and Noble again! SFist Jackson is reading a rare (for him) contemporary work, Michel Houellebecq's first novel, Whatever. First off, the translation, by......

Check out this hook while my Wednesday revolves it! Today: The Del Sol string quartet performs pieces by female Korean composer Hyo-Shin Na at the Main Library today at 2. Na will be there to introduce the pieces. We're partial to Del Sol and their 20th-21st century stylings (they played this correspondent's wedding), so go check 'em out! Thursday: Oklahoma..... OK! The SF Jewish Community Center's holding its annual Great Broadway Singalong at 8......

Not going to Burning Man? Neither are we. Let's check out these shows....

Last weekend, we hit the East Bay to witness SFist Cheshire's on-stage debut in Impact Theater's Impact Briefs 7: The How-To Show. There we sat in the basement of La Val's Subterranean (1834 Euclid in Berkeley) drinking our beer and wondering what the heck we'd write if we totally hated the show. After all, Chesh is a good friend we'd hate to lose, and his wife Sarah could easily kick this writer's a** in......

We've been meaning to interview Craig Newmark for, like, six months -- ever since he dropped by SFist and left his phone number! Everyone here at SFist has used Craigslist for something, and we bet the vast majority of our readers have, too. Hell, SFist Cheshire was in 24 Hours on Craigslist, and when we first met, joked that he found "his car, his house, his job and his fiance on Craigslist." Well, he's......

SFist's online reserve queue from the SF Public is at a standstill these days, as we haven't heard about any books intrugoing enough to reserve. Please make some suggestions in the comments, so we can reserve or buy some new or used books from one of our local independent bookstores. We need MUNI reading! Help! At the Centre Pompidou bookstore, Jet-Setting SFist Mary-Lynn picked up Sophie Calle: Did You See Me? which is a......

Even by 3:45 on Saturday, the lines were so packed around the Roxie that we had to walk onto 16th Street to try and read the (extremely poor) signage on the box office before the Indiefest double bill screening of Oakland Raider Parking Lot and 24 Hours on Craigslist. Over and over again: "Is this the line for will call or is it the wish line?" (FYI for future attendees -- buy tickets online, pick them up at the box office, wait in line to the right of the theater, on the Dalva side. If you didn't buy tickets, wish line goes to the left, on the Truly Med side.) The mob was so big, we missed all the other 'Fisters we were supposed to meet (sorry, guys!). Everyone feels at least a little bit proprietary about Craigslist -- that's where I hired a DJ/got moving boxes/signed up for marketing focus groups/paid through the nose for Arcade Fire tickets -- so it would only be fair to expect a movie showing the stories behind one day of the site's postings (August 4, 2003) to attract an unusually devoted crowd eager to see just who their compatriots are. Meet the couple trying to sell six strollers! The dog owner applying for a room! A woman looking for a gay sperm donor! See SFist Cheshire! (We won't spoil the surprise and tell you where he is in the movie, but he is neither the heavy metal chef, nor the guy with a big bottle of formaldehyde in his basement. Ask him in the comments if you want to know.) So... we got out of the movie around 6:15 (thus the title of this post). And how did we like it? Picture from the 24 Hours on Craiglist website...

...to see if any of our fellow SFist correspondents are mentioned! The Guardian takes the coveted top spot for last week's triumphant Weekly of the Week win. Local politics corner: Kaiser doesn't properly clean the scopes they use to probe your large intestine. You know, it's never good to see the phrase "large intestine" in print. Cover article: It's really, really bad over there in Iraq. The food critic has a horrible meal at Tallulah. Dan Leone enjoys Little Star pizzeria in the Western Addition. An article about that photography show with porn stars clothed and unclothed. Yipes, Jenna Jameson's nipples! Sonic Reducer loves her some San Francisco classic rockers, and the book section (which we skipped). .....And they're back, and on the front page, even, to make it up for them that we haven't been able to get copies for awhile: the San Jose Metro! Sorry, guys. The Biter column notes the phenomenon of an SF dive bar group's annual drunken Caltrain pilgrimage to San Jose. A man who killed himself over spam. Cover article: It's really, really bad over there in Sumatra. Hey, Fatlip (the guy that Ludacris beats up in his new Spike Jonze video Get Back) is playing in Cupertino on Friday. The Weekly (featuring a cameo by our own SFist Cheshire!!! We can't believe he didn't even tell us he had a movie in a film fest last week!), the East Bay Express, and the Weekly of the Week, all after these commercial messages....

SFist would like to point out that if you haven't had a chance to give for the Tsunami effort, you still can. We know it's hard in the weeks following Christmas, what with your budget probably blown to bits. This is the last time we ask, we promise. That doesn't mean we won't highlight other ways you can help in the future, like HiMY SYeD's Global Vigil for January 26th. We're not perfect. Couldn't......

A Holly Jolly bar review column, desperately trying to clear our head of those damn dancing sugar plums so that we can hail a cab home, by Drew. This week's special Christmas edition, "They Took My Bar Away!" (Loosely based on a David Letterman sketch about the cancellation of the short-lived TV series, 'Manimal' in 1983). It's a tale of love, loss and booze. And as an added bonus, the bar reviewed has a big......

roundup of the Bay Area weeklies...

Weekly recap....

Those of you paying attention may have noticed the lack of a certain warm, witty, and meticulous voice of reason on theater, social issues, and graphic design on this site as of late -- well, that's because our own SFist Cheshire is getting married this weekend! Mazel tov, Chesh -- we can't wait to hear how it goes! Meanwhile, in Cheshire's honor, we're providing a post about the ins and outs of planning a San......