*FILM: The final release of Ridley Scott''s love-it-or-hate-it science fiction noir thriller Blade Runner: The Final Cut — now with added footage, re-mixed sound, and minor improvements on visual effects! — screens at the Castro. COMEDY: SF Supervisor Tom Ammiano attempts a return to stand-up comedy at the Makeout Room's "Laughing Liberally Local 415 with Will Durst" tonight. MUSIC: Indie folk/country jazz duo Dean & Britta (former Luna members) perform at Yoshi's-SF. "Mazzy Star-like"......

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. Standouts: 1. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend: We've been spouting praise about Vampire Weekend's newest release since early December, when we heard their album for the first time. Since then, we've seen them live at The Independent, put them on our "Albums We're Looking Forward To in 2008" list and finally featured them (once again) in "This Week in Le......

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. Standouts: This week is worst than last week. Really though, there's nothing (except the Original Cast Recording of Lovemusik). Even on the Amoeba Records website, they only have two, we repeat, two records on their list. With the holidays approaching, one would think that there would be an avalanche of CDs being released but again, there's only a few. Please......

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. Standouts: (There are no major standouts this week) Please Let Us Know What You Think About: 1. Amy Winehouse - Frank: Winehouse doesn't have much luck - her last single, "Rehab," was so deliciously repetitive that it apparently drove her into exhaustion rehab. Will her next single be "Fuck Me Pumps" or "Amy Amy Amy"? We hope that nothing gets......

-- Interiors (1978): Woody Allen's tribute to Ingmar Bergman seems to have gotten lost in the fold over time (it came out between Annie Hall and Manhattan), but it really is one of his best films, ever. Not a chuckle to be found during this beautiful movie focusing on three sisters and one suicidal Martha Stewart-esque mother. Screens at 5:10 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. (with Love and Death at 7 p.m.) at the Castro......

R.I.P. When The Lights Go Down In The City November 2004 - September 2007 It was SFist's first editor Jackson West who asked me to write a music column back in '04 and he also came up with the name of it. I thought, it's SF-related and a quote from a Journey song - perfect! For the past three years my aim has been to tell you about the music in San Francisco that......

A man in a black leather jacket carefully backs his Yamaha into one of the six motorcycle spaces on Haight at the corner of Shrader. He's here to see Pinback's in-store performance at Amoeba Music across the street later in the evening, but he's also pulled his bike into a world where the warm early evening air is alternately punctured by the scent of patchouli, McChickens, pee, and smoke from silly cigarettes. Plenty of off-street fee parking and reminders of the 1960s glory days are also available. Certain parts of Haight between Shrader and Stanyan have seen better commercial days – specifically, the shuttered and boarded Cala supermarket at its west end, and on a much lesser scale, the former home of taco/burrito retailer Chabela's at 1805 (dormant since the mid-'00s) – and there's no escaping the persistently suffocating sense of flower power and "revolution" around here anytime soon. (Kind bud?) The vibe on the block's sidewalks can be construed as seamy or circus-like (or perhaps both), depending upon one's tolerance for American Youth in Very Big Pants, or for politely deranged men pushing shopping carts and singing "COME TO AFRICA!!" at the top of their high-pitched lungs. But regardless of one's frame of reference, there's always a lot to take in down here in Amoeba Gulch....

Oh No, Chris Kavanaugh! Berkeley's own Ed Jew, a Green Party member of the Berkeley rent board who was actually living (and litigating with his landlord) in Oakland, pled not guilty to three charges of voter fraud, one charge of perjury, and one of grand theft (for taking a stipend from the Berkeley rent board) yesterday. Kavanaugh spent Friday night living in the Santa Rita jail before being released on $30,000 bond, and will report......

We'll confess to having never really listened to Wolf Parade; maybe we got them confused with Mice Parade, and we've always though Wolfmother sounded pretty derivative, so they just fell through the cracks for us. But one of the two lead songwriters in Wolf Parade, Dan Boeckner, has a band with his wife Alexei Perry called Handsome Furs which we're really liking. It's a little dark and dire while still being melodic and engaging; we......

Never having been huge fans of instrumental music, we were taken by surprise when we listened to Maserati's latest record Inventions For The New Season. Their own entertaining bio describes the music as a "post-psychedelic orgy of hooks molesting the tired cliche of math-prog" and/or "a post-disco drone machine bristling with the buzz-saw sound of 1,000 angry square waves nestled on a California king size bed of shoegaze swirl." We like to think of the......

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......

To celebrate 07/07/07, local modern Japanese theater troupe Theater of Yugen is presenting The Cycle Plays, an all-day festival of pieces influenced by Japanese Noh theater traditions. The performances use Noh theater conventions and imagery but present stories about figures of American pop cultural legend -- so there's a piece about Ted Kaczynski, a play about Helen Keller (pictured at right), and an adaptation of A Long Day's Journey Into Night. Plays start at 9:30,......

Huge congratulations to our friend DJ Ted from BAGeL Radio who landed in the New York Times this week! A photo of BAGeL Radio HQ is featured in the story called "Big Radio Makes a Grab for Internet Listeners", along with a quote from Ted and mentions of bay area-based Soma FM, Live365 and Pandora. Ted's fighting the good fight to save internet radio from being crushed by soaring broadcasting fees. He's got full details......

Geek out! At Ask a Scientist SF, a monthly lecture slash happy hour with a guest speaker on some sciencey topic. This month's meet-up touches on everything you ever wanted to know about terra incognita, Antarctica, with Kurt Cuffey, a UC Berkeley professor of geography. Get there by 7pm to snag a beer and a seat. Axis Cafe, 1208 Eighth St., SF. If Le Tigre and The Shangri-Las had a British love child, it......

Lotta stuff going on today, a lot of which we've mentioned before: Another Hole In The Head continues and the Black Film Festival gets started! Also, it's the Berkeley Edge Fest. Here's some other stuff too. --Ha ha ha ha ha ha!! It's Critical Ass! There's a naked bike ride to protest overuse of fossil fuels. Noon, starting at Justin Herman Plaza. Don't forget the sunscreen. --Well, this is an unfortunate segue: SF Recycling is......

We've got two giveaways this week, and the first one is particularly near and dear to our heart. We're halfway through 2007 and already thinking about what might make our annual list of top 10 records. One album that's sure to make the cut is Menomena's Friend and Foe. The band is back to play live this Friday night at the Independent with opener All Smiles, a.k.a. Jim Fairchild. We've known Jim since way back......

We've got a really cool giveaway this week. Everyone knows who Rufus Wainwright is, right? Please, tell us that you do. He's still crooning luxuriously behind the piano, wearing fabulously tailored suits and hasn't aged a day since his auspicious self-titled debut nearly ten years ago. His brand new record, Release the Stars, is hot off the presses and he's coming to play a special show at Nob Hill Masonic Center with Sean Lennon......

Here where the Mission melts into the Castro to the west, and Noe Valley to the southwest, it’s a bit unclear which neighborhood we’re wandering around. If the shiny new brown sign at the foot of the hilly 000 block of Fair Oaks St. is to be taken seriously - and frankly, it’s not - then we’ve landed in the Liberty Hill Historic District. Crafty, real crafty. San Francisco needs more fictional “sub-neighborhoods” whose names reek of realtor-sponsored specificity, with the express intention of spiking property values, like it needs another earthquake. But since we’re still east of Dolores, let’s just go with the safe bet: this is the western edge of the Mission. Too general? Can we keep a straight face by upgrading this leg of Fair Oaks to tony-sounding Dolores Heights? What’s next? Pinning the “Amoeba Gulch” tag on the westernmost block of Haight?...

Friend of SFist judy b. is moderating a discussion about San Francisco's criminalization of poverty at the Little Roxie tonight, which is co-sponsored by the People of Color Coalition of the SF Green Party, POOR Magazine, and the SF People's Organization. Sup. Ross Mirkadreamy is scheduled to speak, as is PD Jeff A-Hotty-dachi. 6:30 p.m. and $5-15, but since it's about poverty, no one will be turned away for lack of funds). (Note: the......

Did you miss us last week? Here are our excuses: we caught a cold, had a birthday, and were up to here with work at our dayjob, for real. We're back now and anxiously awaiting a copy of Or, the Whale's brand new CD Light Poles and Pines to arrive in our mailbox. The few songs we've previewed on their site offer up banjo, steel guitar, and a chorus of male and female vocals......

Before you bike to work on Thursday, brush up on your inner urban cyclist with a free bike clinic with tips on navigating through the city -- not to mention step-by-step instructions on how to fix a flat. Get there by 7 for the workshop. REI San Francisco, 840 Brannan, SF. Elegant illustrations by Bay Area residents Marci Washington and Michele Carlson are on display at Giant Robot SF, 618 Shrader. After checking out the......

Everybody cheer! The locals in Thee More Shallows are releasing a new record this week! They're playing a free set at Amoeba Records tonight at 7pm and the big record release party is on Friday at Cafe Du Nord. Listen to their adventurous song structures, buzzy and fuzzy keyboard sounds and strangely mesmerizing lyrics ("at the night school, night school" has been running through our head all day). Enter to win a copy of their......

This week's shows have an equal emphasis on the old and the new. Mix things up a little by seeing an up-and-comer followed by a living legend or two; it's just the kind of eclectic variety that San Francisco's concert venues have to offer. On Friday we're delighted about the opportunity to see 80 year old living legend Charlie Louvin play an early show at the Swedish American Hall. The Louvin Brothers had their heyday......

As noted in this week's SF Weekly and SFist Rita's "We Read the Weeklies" column, the Bay Area's (and beyond) beloved Kitchen Sink—the magazine for people who think too much—is calling it quits this spring. Kitchen Sink is the latest of several independent publications to shut down due to the Independent Press Association's failure to fulfill its commitments before going under. Before Kitchen Sink's proverbial well runs dry, they will be producing one last issue. But they need your help to do it! Stop on by Edinburgh Castle this Saturday night for their fundraiser, which will feature lots of bands and a raffle with prizes from Amoeba, the Believer and local artisans....

We missed SXSW last week, but some of our friends were down there covering the mayhem and brought back some great photos. You can see local photographer and friend of SFist Julie Schuchard get up close and personal with Iggy Pop and The Stooges in this slideshow and see tons of SXSW photos taken by DJ Ted of BAGeL Radio. Also check out a bunch of coverage from our friends at Austinist. Since all......

Did you get your tickets to see Menomena on Friday night at Cafe Du Nord? Hopefully you did, because the show is sold out. As we've said before, this record is already on our top 10 of '07, so if you haven't checked the band out yet - what are you waiting for? OK maybe you're broke or you've fallen and you can't get to Amoeba, so we're going to hook one of you......

SFist re-runs an interview with John Vanderslice. He's playing at Noise Pop tonight. ...

Noise Pop announced their full line-up this week and it has us feeling a little dizzy with excitement. The fest's 15th anniversary kicks off on February 27th with a free Opening Night Event (lineup TBA), followed by highlights including Sebadoh performing with their original lineup and Roky Erickson of 13th Floor Elevators' first Bay Area show in 25 years. Read all about the events and performances and get your all-fest badge while they're still......

This week's giveaway comes from The Finches, a local duo who play endearing folk pop. The songs are refreshingly gentle and Carolyn's voice rings with a true sincerity. See them Saturday afternoon at 2pm when they play a free in-store at Amoeba, or celebrate their CD release at Cafe Du Nord on Wednesday night with The Moore Brothers, Colossal Yes and The Mantles. We're giving away a copy of their brand new CD Human......

Last week's winner, the Bay Guardian. What do Carter and Bush have in common? Problems with Schwarzenegger's health insurance plan. Someone missed the sarcasm in Tim Redmond's column about wifi. Steven T. Jones is working hard this week, covering not only Fake Question Time on the blog but also the trademark fight over Burning Man. Cover article: There's only six quail in the Presidio now, and they're all male. Is the Presidio like the Castro......