It's days like today when we are reminded that free weekly papers can still serve a purpose when we find ourselves stranded in a sudden downpour and without an umbrella. If you manage to find a dry spot to wait out the storm, here are the bits of your makeshift headcovering that are worth reading, funny or not worth your time, no matter what the weather:

SF Weekly

Worth Reading: The cover graphics on the Weekly are pretty slick this week. Just look at the detail in that photoshopped stained glass chapel window in the back there: guns, oil, borders and a Mission Accomplished-looking Rick Perry. The article, about how most of Rick Perry's achievements as governor of Texas are lies, isn't too bad either. But then again, you weren't going to vote for Perry anyway, so maybe this is less of a "Must Read" and more of a "must show to gun-totin' uncle in Amarillo". Assuming you can get him to read a commie pinko free paper, anyway.

Meanwhile, in the food section: Kauffman gives us an experiential play-by-play of the best sushi meal he's eaten all year. It happened at the refreshingly low-hyped 2G Japanese Brasserie and it all started with a bit of octopus. Makes for good reading if your vocabulary could use some creative ways to describe fish.

Funny: Katy St. Clair visits a Elephant and Castle, a FiDi lunch mainstay... on the weekend. The phrase "Ello, guvna!" is uttered and linguistic differences are explored.

Jonathan Kiefer's book review of "boneyard" asks the tough questions. Like: "Is this the way we read now? Ignorant and skeptical, not even a page in and putting a book down to get on the computer?" Yes. Yes, it is.

Don't Bother: You could spend the next 5 minutes or so reading this glowing review of Girls' sparkling sophomore album. Or you could just go to Spotify and listen to it for yourself. Is this the way we read album reviews now? Not even a paragraph in and putting down the paper to get on the computer? Yes. Yes, it is.

sfbg_ross_1005.jpg SF Bay Guardian

Worth Reading: It's the endorsements issue! So, it's a must read if you can't seem to make up your mind and need the Guardian to tell you who to vote for. Although, it's more of less who you'd expect: Avalos for Mayor, Mirkarimi for Sheriff, Onek for DA, etc. Also nice to see the paper acknowledging that Lee (the person) is actually kind of humble and refreshing after the Newsom years, but the Guardian is still pretty hung up on those backroom deals.

Funny: We have no idea what's going on in this "Go Mango" Cheap Eats column. Something about a cross-country roadtrip from Pennsylvania? And cunnilingus is involved? Eventually there is some Burmese cuisine in Burlingame.

Don't Bother: Did you know about the Bay Area activists who helped free the UC Berkeley hikers detained in Iran? No, not Sean Penn, some other Bay Area Activists. You probably hadn't heard of them because this is an SFBG exclusive.

ebx_1005.jpg East Bay Express

Worth Reading: There's some very important happy hour news in the East Bay, namely restaurants are slashing prices after dinner hours. Amazing. Must read of the week, because who can ever get over to the East Bay before 7 p.m?

Meanwhile, if you have kids and live in the East Bay (probably why you moved there in the first place, right?) you might want to check out what Superintendent Tony Smith has in mind for the School District.

Also: what the heck does "sustainable" mean anyway?

Funny: Dan Savage helps out a gay fellow who moved in with a homophobic new roommate. Said homophobe turns out to have a very popular gay porn webcam channel on the Internet. Hilarity ensues.

Don't Bother: Ryan Gosling? George Clooney? Marisa Tomei? Evan Rachel Wood? You're going to go see The Ides of March either way.