Tonight: Maira Kalman and Daniel Handler (a.k.a. Lemony Snicket) in conversation at the Herbst Theater, a group photo exhibition from members of the SFFD and SFPD, and San Francisco's favorite space-surf android rockers. more ›

Tonight: a 20th anniversary gallery show celebrating nocturnal photography, Lykke Li in Oakland, Union Square Skate Rink opens and a book reading from the author of "Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality". more ›

LECTURE: Steig Larsson, the man responsible for the internationally best-selling trilogy of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, unfortunately passed away before anyone got to crack the spine on any of his books. Presented in conversation with Roy Eisenhardt, Swedish architect and author Eva Gabrielsson (a long-time collaborator of Larsson's) will lend some insight in to the mysterious author's life and career while previewing her own memoir "There are Things I Want You to Know" About Steig Larsson and Me as part of the CityArts Lecture series. Adding to the intrigue, rumors are swirling in Larsson's homeland of Sweden that the author was murdered by right-wing terrorists. It should also be noted that Gabrielsson didn't get a nickel from from Larsson's work. (8 p.m. the Herbst Theater, 401 Van Ness Ave. Tickets available from CityArts.) more ›

ART: Check out Circular Time, "a live reading of artist Packard Jenning's project, Longshot: Dining Labor and Ponies on view now at the SFAC Gallery as part of the exhibition Now & When. For the project, Jennings "invited eight conceptual artists to meet in the private dining room of an upscale restaurant to discuss what project to make with their project budget provided by the gallery. The brainstorming for a time capsule took place over the course of a three-hour meal. After the bill was paid there was not enough stipend left to produce the project. All that remained was the conversation." And that conversation? Will be performed by hired reading a transcription of the Longshot dinner conversation. Think of it as A Chorus Line (a show also based on transcripts) minus the music, the dancing, and Miss Donna McKechnie's groundbreaking performance. more ›

New mom and SFist editor Leanne Maxwell is out for the day doing worldly things, so we're trying to tackle "Tonight' today. Our pick? Go see Inception. It looks like it could be all kinds of spectacular. Failing that, there's probably a Law & Order: SVU marathon on somewhere tonight. more ›

CLUB: OK, it's not a production of A Chorus Line. And, well, we're certain neither Michael Bennett nor "The Music and the Mirror" are involved, but...any excuse (i.e., the following club night's title) to post an image of Donna McKechnie, right? Right. Anyway, tonight is the debut of "Singular Sensation," brought to you by Fauxnique and her husband DJ Marc Kate (Silencefiction). In addition to boasting the likes of DJs Stanley Frank and Pee Play, come midnight the dance party turns into a dance lesson. LA dance guru Ryan Heffington (who has influenced the likes of Peaches and the Gossip) will teach a class on the dance floor. That's right, you got served. See you in SoMa, kids. more ›

FILM: The festively horrid Star Wars Holiday Special screens tonight in the Mission. Need we say more? 8 p.m. // Artists' Television Access (992 Valencia) // $6 more ›

by Amy Crocker more ›

Local bicycle dancer and Burning Man veteran Hollis Hawthorne fell off a motorcycle while traveling in India. She hit her head and went into a coma.

More coverage:
* Hollis' friends' blog = http://friendsofhollis.blogspot.com/
* Hollis' family's blog = http://helpholligethome.blogspot.com/
* Chicken John has her story covered over at Laughing Squid.

Hollis needed to get home to the Bay Area to get specific medical treatment at the Stanford Medical Center. The price tag for the med-evac flight was about $150,000. That's where you come in -- with a karaoke mic! more ›

As if we didn't already love our local heartfelt-mixtape-in-the-form-of-a-nonprofit-record-shop Aquarius Records enough, they just went a step further. Snipped from their mailing list:

Wednesday, February 11th, at 9:00 pm, a special after hours aQuarius Arcade Party! Tron, Ghosts 'N Goblins, Joust, Rastan and one more surprise game, all set on free play, come challenge the masters!! WOOOHAHAHAA. No really, just come and play games and hang out and have a blast. But, if you do kick ass on the game of your choice... the night's high score holder on each game, will be handsomely rewarded, with a gift certificate or a cd or a record or something cool.

Plus someone will be manning the register, and we'll be jamming tunes, so definitely browse and shop and purchase, and help support aQuarius. Feel free to bring your own snacks and libations, but we'll supply beverages and munchables as well of course. Should be fun, and hopefully this will just be the first of many such get togethers. See you then.

Shrug off your post-Halloween blood-sugar hangover. Find your galoshes. Then dust off your umbrella-ella-ella-ella-ey-ey-ey and get out there in the rain to go see some excellent dance tonight!

In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Andanza Spanish Arts and ODC Theater present an invigorating, original work, showcasing the eclectic and rich music and dance traditions of Spain/Mexico. Zarzuela, Classical, Folkloric and Flamenco forms will be exquisitely performed in Aire y Gracia through dance, voice and live music, by a cast of 15 world-class artists.

ECLIPSE: As we mentioned before, the Exploratorium is having a solar eclipse viewing slumber party. And for those of you non-agoraphobes who won't be watching it on Second Life, head over to Cow Hollow for a slumber party/eclipse viewing party. Be sure to pack your sleeping bag or blanket for an old-fashion camp out on the museum floor. The museum cafe will be open from 9 p.m.-midnight, but bringing a picnic lunch - especially for those of your ingesting spiked brownies - is strongly encouraged. (Conversely, you can watch the sun-blocking action at home here or here, streamed live from China.) more ›

MUSIC: The "heart-melting" Watson Twins (minus Jenny Lewis) headline a night a pretty ditties over on Potrero Hill. Tim Fite and Okay on Monday open for the two more ›

MUSIC: Holy crud, folks! Yaz (or, as known to all you backwards Brits out there, "Yazoo") is playing in the East Bay tonight. And if there ever was a reason to head over to Oakland, the sounds coming from this British synthpop duo would be it. Alison Moyet and Depeche Mode's Vince Clark reunite tonight. Read more about it here. more ›

FILM: Cult classic B-movie Little Shop of Horrors, a tale about bloodthirsty foliage, received the Broadway treatment in the '80s with a zany showtune-laced remake. A few years the musical got the Hollywood treatment. Broadway kept the gloomy ending in tact; Hollywood cut it out. But who cares. The 1986 version of LSH, screening tonight in the Castro, stands on its own with fun performances by Steve Martin, as a sadistic dentist, and Eileen Green, playing a domestic violence victim with a heart of gold. (Part of the 70MM Film Festival.) more ›

MUSIC: If you dig jazz, hear why guitarist Terrence Brewer nabbed the 2007 SF Weekly Music Award for best jazz/blues artist. He throws down his groovy, guitar-y beats over in the Mission. more ›

MUSIC: Homosexuals who play musical instruments -- i.e., Pansy Division, Winsome Griffles, and gay Christian cow-punk crooner Glen Meadmore -- kickoff Gay Pride with a most rockin' night on SOMA. (Note: leave the ice at home, boys.) more ›

FILM: The San Francisco International Queer Film Festival continues with a Spanish bisexual (MFF) love romp XXY (dir. Lucia Puenzo) and the Israeli, coming-of-age story Japan Japan (dir. Lior Shamriz). The latter film, we're told, is heavy on the nudity, so... there you have it. more ›

THEATER: Homosexuals liven up old episodes of when they reenact '80s geriatric hilarity on stage with "The Golden Girls: The Gay Episodes." Local drag luminaries Heklina, Cookie Dough, and Pollo Del Mar, and Matthew Martin take on the roles of Dorothy, Rose, Blanche, and Sophia. more ›

MUSIC I: Indie rock runs rampant like a skinny-jean sporting hipster with its head cut off when Society of Rockets, Carta, and Odessa Chen perrform. more ›

THEATER: Gays from other states are always so charmingly angry and amusing once they land in the California Republic. Take, for example, noted San Francisco homosexual, Kirk Read. His latest theatrical show, starting tonight and running through Saturday, creates "an evening of stories about sex work, hallucinations, and the apocalypse." Having grown up in some far off place called "Virginia" as part of an evangelical youth group, he mow has firm roots in SF, colorfully preaching to locals. Tonight, hear trippy tales abut "450 pound sex work client, people with dietary restrictions, the Brady Bunch, and touring through rural Alabama with genius strippers." more ›

COMEDY: Danny Dechi hosts a night of stand-up hilarity, featuring Blinky the Rock God (the world's premier pencil musician) and the Danny Dechi Orchestra. more ›

FILM: Those crazy bitches at Femina Potens Gallery are at it again. This time they plan on teaching you prudes out there how to make your very own blue movie at Hot Queer Film & Porn. Shine Louise Houston of Pink and White Productions, Dana Dearmond director for Vivid Alt, Julie Simone director for Abigail Productions and Julie Simone Productions, Trouble Royale for Trannywood Productions, Madison Young director for Madison Bound Productions, and Morty Diamond director of Trannyfags and Trans Entities will be on-hand for a Q&A and vegan cookie binge. Hot Queer Film & Porn is also an open mic-like night where the public is invited to show their very own "hot erotic films" and sordid amature porn. Sort of like XTube, only IRL. Nice. more ›

THEATER: The fantastic and fantastically insightful Robert Avila at SFBG suggests checking out rock opera , written by "longtime Bay Area rock-guitarist" Carrie Baum and in collaboration with Seffanos X & Jamie Ben-Azay Blue Buddha & Susan Appe. The show is, ahem, "a rock-n-roll musical adventure story, a father and his daughter travel through experiences of time, mortality, death and love while navigating extreme and unexpected turns along the way." Fun for everyone, yes? And we, in turn, suggest doing what Avila tells you to do. more ›

FILM: Starting tonight, the San Francisco Black Film Festival, entering its 10th year, will be in full swing. Kicking of the week-long film fest is Ngozi Onwurah is about "a black teacher who has to steer his careening life back on track after he is fired." Clinical depression and racism in England follows. This film screens at 7 p.m. at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, 1881 Post. (Open bar party at Rasselas to follow!) more ›

FILM: , featuring new footage from of the night he died (see above), eyewitnesses interviews, Kennedy accents, crackpot theories, and much, much more. Exciting stuff, folks. more ›

MUSIC: The Godfather of Goth, Peter Murphy, brings his very special brand of glam, gloom, rock, and overzealous use of eyeliner to SF. And he's playing all of his old stuff to boot! Ali Eskandarian opens the show. more ›

THEATER: "Keep Tightly Closed in a Cool Dry Place" -- a jail cell drama, written by Megan Terry -- features the delightful tale of three men (played by dames!) who rape, kill, plot, and dream. Hot. (But don't worry if you can't make it tonight, the theatrical shanking happens tomorrow night as well.) more ›

MUSIC: Indie-comedy team, Flight of the Conchords, performs in SF's swankiest digs. This New Zeland duo uses "a combination of witty observation, characterization, and acoustic folk guitars to work the audience" into fits of hilarity and, well, indie-ness. They've also won a Grammy Award. but don't hold that against them. They're highly entertaining. Read more about the two here. more ›

CLUB: Tonight at dorkbot-sf, catch "people doing strange things with electricity." While we can't tell you what exactly goes on here, it sure sounds exciting. Tonight's lineup includes DV Rogers ("parkfield interventional eq field work"-- i.e., earthquakes), Jeff Wishnie ("harsh computing"), Jeremy Bornstein ("soapmaking with genetic algorithms"), and David Calkins ("robogames"). This could very well be the most exciting thing, ever. Food and drinks will be served as well. (Read more about it here.) more ›