Hometown girl Ali Wong was back in town for the holidays over the weekend, making a stop in her "Milk & Money" tour at the Masonic, and eating some food around town as well.

Wong, who grew up in Pacific Heights, did some of her first standup comedy at SoMa's Brainwash Cafe in the mid-aughts, and in the last few years she's seen her star skyrocket in the comedy world thanks to a couple of Netflix specials. She's been a writer on the soon-to-end sitcom Fresh Off the Boat since it began in 2015, and this year saw her starring in a Netflix film, Always Be My Maybe, an SF-set romcom which she co-wrote with costar Randall Park and Michael Golamco.

On Instagram Wong posted shots of herself chilling backstage with "mommy and daddy" Ayesha and Steph Curry on Sunday night (SFGate notes via Ayesha's Instagram that they were on a date night), as well as eating dinner with her family at Hong Kong Lounge. Also, Inner Sunset Korean soul food spot Um.ma posted a shot of Wong stopping in there on Monday.

On the Hong Kong Lounge photo, which features Wong's daughter pulling on her hair, she writes, "When your hair becomes the main source of toddler entertainment so everyone else can eat their har gow in peace."

Wong is mother of a four-year-old daughter and a two-year-old daughter, both of whom have become subjects in her recent standup.

On Monday, Wong also dropped in on Green Apple Books in the Richmond to sign copies of her book Dear Girls.

Bumble, the dating app that lets women make the first move in hetero pairings, just made a gaffe when it deleted sometime Bay Area resident Sharon Stone's dating profile, believe it was a fake. It was not!

Stone tweeted about the blunder ("Don't shut me out of the hive!") and the company subsequently apologized and reinstated her account, as CNN reports. The 61-year-old Oscar nominee was just trying to put herself out there, but some Bumble users flagged the profile as probably bogus. The company issued a statement saying, "Being the icon that she is, we can understand how so many of our users felt it was too good to be true once they noticed her profile wasn't photo verified."

After Stone's tweet made the viral rounds, there were many reactions from women on Twitter who are also trying to find mates on the apps, as BuzzFeed noted. "If Sharon Stone can't get a date, there is no fucking hope for any of us. I'm sorry but stop trying,"  writes Twitter user @downhellfromher. "As if dating wasn’t hard enough we have to compete with Sharon Stone now," wrote Nikki Savage.

Bumble also had to confirm to BuzzFeed that "her profile is authentic and that the whole incident was not part of a promotional campaign."

Stone is best known for her 1990s roles in Basic Instinct and Casino, but she was cast earlier this year in a new Ryan Murphy prequel to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest called Ratched, with Sarah Paulson playing a young Nurse Ratched in the 1940s. That is set to drop on Netflix sometime — probably in 2020.

Stone resided in the Bay Area during and after her marriage to former SF Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein, between 1998 and 2004. She and Bronstein adopted a son together, Roan Joseph Bronstein, in 2000, and she has two other adopted sons, Laird Vonne and Quinn Kelly Stone. She's been a frequent figure at Bay Area events in recent years, including as host and attendee at the annual HotBed benefit in Tiburon. Her primary residence is now in West Hollywood, in a home once owned by Montgomery Clift, and she has remained unmarried the last 15 years.

She maintains an active social media presence on Twitter and Instagram, where she is a big fan of posting #TBT photos of her younger self.

Photo: Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia, 2017

In an exchange with a stranger on Twitter, serial entrepreneur and Tesla CEO Elon Musk was speaking out about his sometimes rocky emotional life on Sunday — yet again illustrating how weird it is when celebrities share intimate details of their lives on Twitter during apparently vulnerable moments.

A fan named Eric Diepeveen was simply remarking on how fabulous and enviable Musk's life appears on Instagram, and Musk decided to respond candidly saying, "The reality is great highs, terrible lows and unrelenting stress. Don't think people want to hear about the last two."

Then another person replied to the comment about highs and lows, asking if Musk might be bipolar. He replies "yeah," but then makes a caveat, admitting he's never been diagnosed as such.

And then he basically admits that his life is hell.

When asked how he deals with all these highs and lows, he says he basically just "take[s] the pain."

CNet points out, "It's important to note that bipolar disorder is more than just severe mood swings, and should be properly diagnosed by a psychiatrist."

So, in summation, being Elon Musk may not be all it's cracked up to be, but having all that money is probably pretty nice.

For instance, here he was clowning around outside the Sydney Opera House with celebrity girlfriend Amber Heard and his five sons back in May.

Piggyback rides around the Opera House

A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on May 29, 2017 at 10:23pm PDT

And in related news, how did Tesla get to shut down the entire Bay Bridge to shoot this clip of the models S, X, and 3 driving alone on the western span last week?

S, 3, X on a bridge

A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Jul 29, 2017 at 7:15pm PDT

Previously: Elon Musk Snubs Trump, Quits Advisory Council Over Climate Deal Exit

As a modern day Johnny Appleseed or Davey Crocket, folk hero Bill Murray is entitled to move about the world with puck-like impunity, his shrugs, winks, and grimaces accepted as apologies wherever he goes. TMZ reports that such is the case now, as in one of the actor's grumpier or more mischievous moods he took a bunch of phones from fans who were gawking at him and chucked them off a roof.

In Northern California to compete in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am through Sunday, Murray, whose appearance in Caddyshack can now be seen as autobiographical, was chilling at popular see-and-be-seen Carmel hot spot Vesuvio. The particulars of the occasion, reports KSBW, involve Justin Timberlake's annual tequila party.

Okay, it's not exactly what you're thinking: Murray reportedly wasn't drinking. But maybe he should have been. Fans taking his photo on their phones, with flash, from nearby, got more Lost in Translation/Scrooged Bill Murray when he grabbed the phones out of their hands and hurled them from the rooftop bar, two stories up.

But not to worry: Murray has agreed to pay for the phones, police say, and that's okay with the would-be paparazzi. The star can now hit the links again in peace — except for the frequent questions and camera attention he gets there. SB Nation reports that onlookers turn to Murray after every stroke to catch a potential Carll Spackler bit — something he never delivers.

Previously: Bill Murray Was In Oakland Last Week, Taking Over A Taxi So The Driver Could Play His Sax

Oscar winner and recent Kennedy Center honoree Tom Hanks has voiced his full support in a NYT op-ed for President Obama's proposal to make two years of free community college available to all Americans. Hanks, who's a graduate of Oakland's Skyline High School, class of '74, says he had "lousy SAT scores" and generally poor grades and community college was his only option. He attended Chabot College in Hayward for two years — at the time, it was free; now it costs $46 per unit for California residents, or $2760 for the 60 units required for an Associate's degree. And, he says, "That place made me what I am today."

He notes that Chabot students should check the library's vinyl record collection to see if they can find a recording of Jason Robards performing the monologues of Eugene O’Neill. "You will find my name repeatedly on the takeout slip," he says. Also, he calls out some of the fine teachers he had, who are long gone.

Classes I took at Chabot have rippled through my professional pond. I produced the HBO mini-series “John Adams” with an outline format I learned from a pipe-smoking historian, James Coovelis, whose lectures were riveting. Mary Lou Fitzgerald’s Studies in Shakespeare taught me how the five-act structures of “Richard III,” “The Tempest” and “Othello” focused their themes.

In Herb Kennedy’s Drama in Performance, I read plays like “The Hot L Baltimore” and “Desire Under the Elms,” then saw their productions. I got to see the plays he taught, through student rush tickets at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and the Berkeley Repertory Theater. Those plays filled my head with expanded dreams. I got an A.

In the end he transferred to Sacramento State, studied theater there for a year, and then went off auditioning, and the rest is history.

But Hanks's point is that "many lives will be changed" if Congress manages the unlikely feat of funding the President's plan. And, "High school graduates without the finances for a higher education can postpone taking on big loans and maybe luck into the class that will redefine their life’s work."

A movie called San Andreas starring Dwayne “The Rock’’ Johnson, Kylie Minogue (!), and Alexandra Daddario is set to begin shooting in San Francisco later this month, and already some neighbors in tony Russian Hill and merchants at Fisherman's Wharf are grumbling about it and asking that film permits be rescinded.

C.W. Nevius has chimed in, as is his wont on such NIMBY topics, saying, "Cities across the country are falling all over themselves to woo movie and television productions... In San Francisco? We're thinking about it."

The film crew is intending to shut down a big section of Jefferson Street at Fisherman's Wharf next Tuesday (7/15) and Wednesday (7/16), obviously to get some picturesque shots of crowds in one of San Francisco's most recognizable areas, but merchants started flipping out after members of the crew began leafleting the neighborhood before all the permits were signed and delivered. The shoot did get permitted, with a slightly scaled back schedule, but not before the Film Commission got flooded with angry phone calls.

Following that, there will be shoots with 300 to 400 extras on Hyde Street in Russian Hill, and a section of Greenwich Street might be involved too. Streets in the area will be closed on July 22, and maybe again on July 25.

Can we talk about how weird and meta it will be if this movie about a major California earthquake comes out shortly before or after an actual major California earthquake? Because we're due, you know.

The plot, according to IMDB, involves "a rescue-chopper pilot [who] makes a dangerous journey across the state in order to rescue his estranged daughter" in the wake of a massive earthquake.

But, of course, it's too expensive to shoot an entire movie in California, so besides these few days of location shooting, the majority of the film is being shot in Australia. You can blame high union wages, in part, for that.

[Nevius/Chron]
[SFGate]

To handle the potential offers of modeling contracts and reality TV gigs that have been flooding in for that very attractive rumored gang member Jeremy Meeks, his family has hired Gina Rodriguez of GR Media, who must have made a beeline to offer her services after Meeks's photos "broke the internet," as they say. But now, Rodriguez is telling the media that she's been hounded with death threats ever since her name was publicized in connection to Meeks.

Rodriguez has represented other such major stars as "Teen Mom"-star-turned-porn-star Farrah Abraham, and "Octomom" Nadya Suleman, and as she told Fox News last week, she's already talked with four production companies and three modeling agencies about signing Meeks. Also, somehow, she's gotten herself involved in trying to lower Meeks's bail, which is set at $1.1 million, and she says, "We're trying to secure him some of these deals so that when he gets out, it can change his life, literally."

Rodriguez now says that she's gotten over two dozen threatening phone calls (from jealous admirers? rival gang members?), and she's having the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department look into it. It remains to be seen if she's just trying to keep Meeks's name in peoples' news feeds any way she can until they can get him out of jail and into the Big Brother house.

As a reminder, Meeks is a convicted felon who apparently had a lot of weapons in his home, and he has rumored connections to a Stockton gang called the Northside Gangster Crips.

Update: Yep, and as of July 1, Rodriguez confirms she has landed Meeks a contract with L.A.-based Blaze Models. And Gawker and others are referring to her as Meeks' agent, not manager. [Gawker]

[KTVU]
[Fox News]

Previously: New Photos Reveal Hot Mugshot Guy's Non-Hot Past
Settle Down, Everyone: Hot Mugshot Guy Is Married

[Fox News]

Not sure how I missed this earlier, but San Francisco Pride scored serious points with one of their celebrity Grand Marshal picks this year — at least in the eyes of reality television watchers and everyone who likes to tweet at minor celebrities.

EJ Johnson, the out-and-proud, fashion-obsessed gay son of Magic Johnson and one of the stars of #Rich Kids of Beverly Hills on the E! Network, is headlining the parade this year, and he's sure to be wearing something that is #ForeverFlawless (one of his signature hashtags) and carrying an enormous designer purse. Below, watch him in a clip from The Wendy Williams Show.

EJ, who was a 20-year-old NYU student before catapulting into the spotlight over the last year and landing a lucrative deal with E!, is an outspoken force to be reckoned with, and it should be pretty funny when he takes to the main stage at Civic Center — though he may work the crowd to promote his growing brand as a style icon and fashion critic.

Though originally EJ was just a tabloid headline, after TMZ snapped him coming out of a club with a man on his arm and a big orange Birkin bag last year and ran a headline about Magic Johnson's son being gay, he has made a name for himself via the #Rich Kids show and definitely isn't living in his parents' shadow anymore — his mother, Cookie Johnson, has a denim line that he helps pimp, however.

"A lot of people ask me if I only get all this attention because of my dad," Johnson said to Daily Beast recently. "The answer is no. I know I’m an interesting-ass person. I have a lot of personality and I’m funny. I have a lot of energy."

EJ will be joined in the celebrity contingent by retired Congressman Barney Frank, writer and activist Janet Mock, and DOMA case attorney Roberta Kaplan. So, like I said, unless you're into politics, EJ is the biggest star!

On the Main Stage on Sunday, you'll find the likes of Taryn Manning of Orange Is the New Black fame, Jesika von Rabbit, and the completely rad L.A. band Hi Fashion.

See our complete Insider's Pride Guide here.

Academy Award-winning actor turned sellout turned meme Nicholas Cage has inspired one local would-be curator to do a whole show around him. As the Weekly is reporting, "DJ and event planner" Ezra Croft was inspired to create a group show around the actor, which is taking place April 12 at Balancoire in the Mission.

As you can guess from reading the exclamation-point-heavy website for the event , it's more of an excuse for a theme party, all built around art inspired by the man who turned out great performances in Moonstruck, Raising Arizona, and Leaving Las Vegas before becoming the victim of the Hollywood machine in the National Treasure and Ghost Rider franchises. "This event will have a bar!" It promises. Also: "really awesome music" and "It will also be one of San Franciso's most interesting and off the wall art expositions, EVER!"

They are currently taking submissions.

Plan accordingly.

[SF Weekly]
[NicholasCageIsGod]

SF native Patricia Campbell "Patty" Hearst turns 60 today. Some of you might recognize her from her cameo in the John Waters films like Cry Baby and Serial Mom. Others of you might recall her beyond meta turn in Veronica Mars as Selma Hearst Rose, the granddaughter of the founder of fictional "Hearst College" who had faked her own kidnapping. But all of us remember her most famous role, that as "Tania," a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army who non-fictionally robbed a Sunset District bank in April, 1974.

Born into a life of privilege as the granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst, Patty was kidnapped by, then chose to join the SLA. She was arrested after robbing the Hibernia Bank (it's now a B of A a NEMS) at 1450 Noriega. Though it was argued that Hearst had been brainwashed by other members of the SLA into participating in their crimes, Hearst refused to testify against her comrades and was sentenced to 35 years in prison, a sentence that was reduced to two years by then-President Carter.

Hearst now lives in New York, though I'm told that she regularly visits her brother, Will, who works for Kleiner Perkins and is the director of the Hearst Corporation.

Happy birthday, Patty! Here's to many more years of varying wildness.

[Found in SF]
[Found in SF]
[FBI]
[Crime Library]

Autograph seekers in front of the St. Regis waiting for Warriors players (and, hopefully, for their sake, not Sean Penn). Shot by Gerard Livernois.

Madonna's ex-husband blew up at a someone trying to take his picture at the St. Regis Lobby Bar on Tuesday. The two-time Academy Award winner, in town to speak at the Salesforce's Dreamforce 2013 conference currently occupying eastern SoMa, was lounging at the acclaimed bar when he saw a flash go off and realized someone was snapping his mug. He then lost his collective shit.

TMZ has more:

A witness at the bar tells TMZ ... Penn bolted after the guy (who wasn't a paparazzo) ... and screamed at him, "Do we look like f**king zoo animals?"

Penn -- who was in town to speak at a sales conference -- also grabbed the man's phone and slammed it to the ground.

That's when our video begins ... and you can hear Penn yelling, "I'll make you eat the phone ... get the f**k out of here!!"

Mr. Penn later told hotel management, "You should do something about that." And as for the photog/fan, he reportedly refused to press any charges.

Previously: 10 Best Bars With Fireplaces In San Francisco
Sean Penn's Son 'Hopper' Drops Racist, Homophobic Slurs At Paparazzi

A.C.T.'s Young Conservatory has graduated a number of successful alumni, but none perhaps so famous and swooned over than Glee's Darren Criss, who sings, dances, and ably and convincingly plays a gay male on the show but whose agent insists he is not, in fact, gay in real life. And Darren is making another appearance back at his alma mater this year, as he has in the past couple years, for the Young Conservatory Homecoming event on November 30.

The benefit event features a show and a post-show reception with the performers, as well as a pre-show dinner for VIP ticket-buyers at which, we're certain, several older gentlemen will vie for Darren's attention and perhaps pass him small pieces of paper with offers of Italian villas and all-expense-paid Tahitian getaways.

Tickets will run you $100 for cheap seats, $250 for more central seating, or $500 for that VIP dinner plus VIP seating, and all tickets get you into the after-party.

There are a bunch of other alumni/ae performing as well whom you can read about here, but clearly Darren will be the main draw. There are also some play readings on November 29, and a panel discussion with some of the artists, which you can read more about here.

In related news, Darren was spotted last week at New York City piano bar Marie's Crisis, where he was joined by Broadway star Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon) who was the voice of Jasmine in Disney's Alladin, and the two sang "A Whole New World" from Alladin together while Darren played the piano. See the video below.