After SFist reported that Zeitgeist closed for renovations, a reader sent us some shots of the exfoliation, if you will, now in progress. Said reader, one who "has a friend working on the remodel," tells us that "the back wall with 20+ years of bumperstickers and what-not is gone." It has been reportedly "[t]aken away and destroyed."

Mission Mission has the final shot of the popular Mission bar's interior.

Zeitgeist will reopen on February 14, Valentine's Day. Aw.

by Andrew Dalton

Tiki bar aficionados lost a watering hole late last night as a fire at Tiki Tom's in Oakland quickly erupted from one-alarm to a three-alarm status. About 80 firefighters with 17 engines had problems reaching the waterfront restaurant near the Park Street Bridge and a fireboat was brought in to flank the blaze from the estuary side. Crews remained on the scene from just after 11 p.m. Thursday night until 6 a.m. this morning dousing remaining hot spots. BCN reports (via SFGate) that the cause of the fire is still being investigated, although the building was unoccupied so we can safely rule out flaming rum drinks as the culprit.

Of course the Yelpers, who never seemed to give it much love before, are already reviewing the restaurant's smoldering new look - alternately giving it a harsh one star for burning down and an elegiac 5 stars for the good times and greasy food that will be missed.

[SFGate]

Termed out District Supervisor Chris Daly has no plans to leave San Francisco high and dry. According to NBC Bay Area, the (in)famous District 6 Supe confirmed plans to buy and run Buck Tavern on Market Street (between 12th Street & Page) -- a former watering hole for many local online writers.

“I sat down and thought about it,” Daly told NBC Bay Area’s Joe Rosato Jr. "And ultimately decided that it would make sense to purchase a bar and grill."

Obviously, this is a brilliant, brilliant idea. For many reasons. We love the area, the bar itself, his name could draw a wildly mixed crowd, and we can only imagine Daly would pour us a strong Vesper. (Fingers crossed.) ”I can hopefully have a place where people of all political stripes, but especially progressives can come together to have a drink, have something to eat - talk about important issues,” he went on to say.

He's leaning toward the name "Daly's Dive" but that's not settled yet. Commenters, you know what to do.

Read all about it a NBC Bay Area.

Update: Daly was kind enough to offer the first 10 SFist commenters in this post (besides Daly himself, of course) a free drink. Which? Is pretty damn cool, folks.

One of two things happened over at BAR.com: 1) Somebody hacked the interwebs, and posted this casual faux-resignation letter Sunday morning, or 2) news editor Cynthia Laird is peeved. Since Laird is a respected journalist in these parts, very much civic minded about her community, and too overqualified to spritz homosexuals with bronzer, we're going to assume the former.

But for your amusement, behold:

A kind word from the editor.
Sunday, March 8, 2009

I am sick and tired of these fucking faggots roaming MY streets. The same streets that my children walk. They act like fucking women and I am tired of it. I dont give a pure shit about your fucking rights for equal buttsex. I dont care about your equal rights to steal a fucking job at a tanning salon so you can do nothing but talk trash about my 13 year old daughter. Fuck you faggots. Fuck you in the ass. Go fornicate yourself with a rusty metal pole. I FUCKING QUIT. FUCK THIS JOB. IM DONE.

Filed by Cynthia Laird in Uncategorized

And thank heavens they used "fornicate" in lieu of "fuck" in the above missive; otherwise, one might have considered this a bit off-color.

That said, try to stay strong, print publishing ilk. Some of you seem to be going off the rails this month. And please stay away from any tall towers and all assault rifle shops.

UPDATE: According to Cynthia Laird, "Yes, this is fake. I just deleted [it]."

At around 1 a.m this morning, a man was shot and killed just outside North Beach bar Fuse. According to reports, the unidentified man had a few drinks, walked outside and returned later, "only to be shot twice in the back as he tried to re-enter the club." Once he stumbled back into the club, all chaos broke loose. A bartender tried to perform CPR, but the man was "pronounced dead about an hour later at San Francisco General Hospital." Word has it the man also might have known his assailant. No arrests have been made. Update: The victim has been identified by medical examiners as Richard Barrett, 29. who was "trying to run from the men when he was shot." Brazen.

On the recommendation of some friends, we headed over to the Buckshot last night. There were rumors of a metal-centric musical bent, shuffleboard, and ski-ball (yes!). All true. But what really got us was the bar menu. Corn dogs, pulled pork sliders, fried chicken, and...chicken-fried bacon.

We now have a cardiology consultation pencilled in, but it was absolutely worth it.

Just after 2 a.m. this morning, a drive-by shooting occurred outside the Eagle on Harrison at 12th Street, killing one. According to former Pansy Division member/current Eagle employee/LJ user Patrock, the victim "was hanging out with two females on the Harrison side of the bar when two guys in a Jetta rolled up and fired 3 to 5 rounds," hitting the guy and spraying the SOMA hot spot with gunfire. He says:

Sometime around 2:10am as we were cleaning up, I heard someone pulling on the front doors to the bar. It's not necessarily an unusual thing but I heard some voices getting loud on the other side of the wall though couldn't make out what they were saying. I ignored it and went about cleaning.

It was maybe 2:17am, about five loud gun shots came from just on the other side of the south wall of the bar on Harrison Street. I instantly hit the deck under the bar and in front of the cooler. (...) Nobody realized what just had happened and thought it was a box falling over or something...thinking I was being paranoid. Almost immediately we heard multiple sirens heading toward us. The first squad car pulls up and you could see them on the security camera. They get out of the car and slowly move around to the other side of the building. After things start to look calm through the camera, I go outside to see what happened. There was a drive by shooting. A guy was murdered right out front of the bar. Apparently the victim was hanging out with two females on the Harrison side of the bar when two guys in a Jetta rolled up and fired 3 to 5 rounds. The two females fled the scene.

A bullet went through the south wall, under the benches and lodged itself into one of the steps by the pool table. This crossed about two feet from where I was when the shots went off.

According to the Gate, the victim was Germane Harris, 33, a bouncer who had just finished his shift at Holy Cow. No arrests have been made.

Read more about it here, see more images here.

Altered image credit: Patrock

South of Market is home to one of the largest networks (with the fewest dropped calls?) of queer-friendly businesses in San Francisco. It has been this way for decades and doesn't appear to be changing. Or is it?

We stumbled upon the year-long saga regarding the relocation of Hole in the Wall Saloon while perusing various Web sites pertaining to our relevant local interests and businesses:

Presently, a woman nearby on Dore Alley, still refusing to meet with us after all this time, has sworn to stop our pub from ever opening, actually terming gays in the neighborhood "sexual outlaws" who would "invade my neighborhood."

Our fact checking reveals that the rumors are indeed true: SOMA is being invaded by sexual outlaws.

How does one stop this from occurring? Don't panic. We're certain that this pressing issue is on everyone's minds and have thus compiled a handy do-it-yourself guide to preventing "OH NO! GAY INVASION!" from coming to your neighborhood:

- Make sure you're indigent so that you have unlimited disposable taxpayer-provided income and time without that pesky 9-to-5 nonsense to get in your way.

- Be sure to toss in your disability card to ensure that government agencies will bend over backwards for your agenda.

All clues point towards the proprietors of Harry's Bar being behind the Owl Tree redux and most importantly, the owls will be back! According to Eater's reader comments:

Wasn't the liquor license purchased by the folks from Harry's Bar on Fillmore? I've heard that they are trying to 'restore' the bar as best they can (many fixtures were sold off during a cash-strapped period shortly after Bobby's death), but the place needed new electrical, plumbing, etc. Anticipated re-opening was March, so we should expect sometime in June...

Although Bobby is sorely missed, we're glad this establishment will be back in all of its owl glory.

Photo from EaterSF.

It seems Yul is thinking about going back to public service. Is elected office in his future? In the meantime, he's still out promoting the Asian American Donor Program.

He says that he isn't necessarily a "cheerleader for law school" and that Yale was "depressing", but he values the experience of law school because it can "sharpen your ability to think critically." Fair enough. Choose wisely.

*MUSIC: You know that song at the end of , "Anyone Else But You"? The one Ellen Page and Michael Cera sing to one another? And it's all cute and sad? Well,it was co-written and originally recorded by Kimya Dawson, former half of the Moldy Peaches, and she's over in the East Bay tonight at 924 Gilman. She performs along with Angelo Spencer at this all-ages show. (No booze allowed, by the way.) .

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Sober punks crooning melancholic ballads not really your scene? How about Herbert Blomstedt conducting young pianist Jonathan Biss in Mozart's Divertimento in D major, Piano Concerto No. 22, and Symphony No. 38 over at Davies Symphony Hall?

FILM: Todd Haynes' quasi-David Bowie biopic, Velvet Goldmine, screens at the Red Vic tonight. Rated R for Ewan McGregor's floppy genitalia.

COMEDY: Comedy Central's Dave Attell (from Insomniac) brings his hilarity to SF tonight, featuring not one but two shows over at Cobb's Comedy Club in North Beach.

FOOD: One of our new favorite places to grab Italian, Bar Bambino over in the Inner Mission, has a nifty wine flight going on tonight: Barolo producer Damilano, featuring three Barolo bottlings. And it will be paired with an assortment of bruschette. Mmm.

The listed events were chosen by the editors of SFist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla.