A small protest was held at City Hall yesterday by 400-plus pissed off Tibetan immigrants, honoring the 49th anniversary of Tibet's uprising against China, but also San Francisco's hosting of the Olympic torch. Just a preface of what will happen in the city next month, San Francisco will be the focus of a major protest since it's the only US city hosting the Olympic torch relay in the 2008 Beijing games.

According to CBS 5, the decent-sized group held banners on the steps of City Hall reading "Olympics in China, Torture in Tibet," and "Truth is our only weapon." Over at sftorch2008.org, it notes that a larger rally will be planned for April 9 when the torch finally makes its way here.

The Chinese government is running the Olympic torch around the world, hoping to win the approval of the global public and cover up its brutal occupation of Tibet and abysmal human rights record. When the torch relay reaches San Francisco on April 9th, China will be in the global spotlight like never before. We have an unprecedented opportunity to shine this spotlight on Tibet.

China's occupation of Tibet is a hearted issue -- even though China has maintained that it has "ruled Tibet for centuries" -- especially here in the Bay Area and on you more liberal college campuses. Next month's protest during the torch's arrival is expected to draw thousands.

Then we found ourselves thinking, what if this were just another penis drawing -- we probably wouldn't even bother posting it. Penis drawings are a dime a dozen, but vagina drawings such as this are real pearls diamonds in the rough.

Submit your Bay Area finds to found [at] sfist [dot] com, or tag them sfist and found on Flickr. Let us know where and when you found the item and any other helpful info.

See the centerfold version after the jump!

Tournaments will be held in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston, with the winners of each city going to finals in New York. San Francisco's chance at playing will be on February 23 at 1015 Folsom, starting at 2 PM. The first 256 people at the door will get a chance to play, along with $10 Best Buy cards. While that's a lot of people to battle, the prizes are very sweet. According to Nintendo:

The grand prize winner will receive a crystal-coated Wii with a design from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a home theater system from Best Buy and a copy of the game. The second-place finisher will receive one Wii system and Wii Remote, one copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and a $1,000 Best Buy gift card. The third-place finisher will receive a Wii and Wii Remote, a copy of the game and a $500 Best Buy gift card. The fourth-place finisher will receive a Wii, an extra Wii Remote, a copy of the game and a $250 Best Buy gift card.

So what exactly does that mean? They're closing up shop because the higher-ups have decided that your favorite barista has been serving you pure swill for coffee these past years. Starbucks wants to see if coffee addicts will give them more money visit more often after they've "re-trained" all employees to make better drinks. This "renewed focus on espresso standards" will "ensure the exceptional quality of every beverage." (Ahem) Sure.

However, if you completely absolutely cannot live without your Mermaid-logo cups of coffee, YumSugar points out that all the smaller kiosk, bookstore and airport Starbucks will be open. Seattle, look at what addicts we've become. Le sigh.

Photo courtesy of Rude Lovers.

Piff! Pow! Zwap!

On Valentine's Day at precisely 6 p.m. at Justin Herman Plaza, San Francisco will play host to its third annual public pillow fight. And they're looking for a few good men and women. The rules of the fight are as follows:

1) Tell everyone you know about Pillow Fight!

2) Tell EVERYONE YOU KNOW about Pillow Fight!!!

3) Nothing in your pillow but pillow.

4) Don’t hit anyone with out a pillow.

5) Don’t hit anyone operating a camera.

If you want to see what's in-store for you, Scott Beale has images and footage of last year's goose-feather brawl.

And being that this is San Francisco, no form of organized public entertainment comes for free. The Food Bank and Coalition on Homelessness will be collecting donations this year. You can provide them with pillows, blankets, clothing, and assorted non-perishable food items before you strip down to your panties, unfurl your hair, and start smacking the crap out of your fellow San Franciscans.

For what it's worth: "In celebration of National Pancake Day on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., IHOP, one of America's favorite restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner, will give away one free short stack of its signature buttermilk pancakes to all guests," according to iHOP.

But where in heaven's name are we to find an iHOP in gastronomically governed San Francisco? Well, there are two iHOPs in SF: one at 200 Beach Street (i.e., at the Wharf, a few blocks away from San Francisco's only In-N-Out) and the other at 2299 Lombard. Who knew? (Okay, didn't) For more locations, go here.

But if you can't swing by America's favorite pancake chain, why not pick up some aerosol pancake batter? Or how about these whimsical "Jewish pancakes" topped with gravlax, crème fraîche, and caviar? Mmm mm.

Republican (it goes without saying) Assemblyman Guy Houston of San Ramon wants to slice off more than $3 million in state funding from Berkeley for their stance against Marine recruiting. He will introduce legislation to "withhold state transportation money until Berkeley rescinds its 'war on the U.S. Marine Corps.'"

Jesus.

In a move that will ideally hurt his political career -- since it's a waste of time, a symbolic prick move, and has little to zero chance of ever passing -- the flame-haired Houston's move parallels other Republican Congressmen. A few others on the right have also whined about financially destroying the city of Berkeley after the twee and annoying anti-war group Code Pink picketed downtown Marine recruitment center, prompting the city council to approve a measure that urged the Marine recruiters to leave their downtown office.

Next week, according to CBS 5, "Berkeley council members will consider rescinding the Marines' declaration to defuse the controversy." Way to stay strong.