Aw. Well, this is just downright sweet. And smart. You see, Cafe de la Paz, which has received a three-star rating by the Yelp mafia, is throwing a contest for Kern County queer couples only. The nuevo Latino and tapas restaurant is inviting Kern County to win a marriage ceremony and a small reception dinner at the Berkeley restaurant. Russell Bass, owner of Berkeley's Cafe de la Paz, will run an ad in the......

Oh wow. Mission Mission is offering a free pack of "I Lost Me to Meth" coasters to one lucky reader who can come up with the niftiest meth-related anecdote. So, tweakers of San Francisco, now it is your turn to shine as bright as your foreheads. Send Mission Mission your choicest sex-for-cash, this-month's-rent-goes-bye-bye, and sold-my-DVDs-to-Amoeba tales of meth-related woe. (Required PSA of concern: If you've succumbed to speed's siren song, there's nothing to be......

Here's your chance to win a spot on Grand Ole Party's guest list for their upcoming concert with Rogue Wave on Saturday night at the Fillmore. We promised and we never break our promises. (Well, at least we try not to.) This isn't the first time that you've been able to check this band out for free. Back in February, we gave away free tickets plus a prize pack when they were on their headlining......

Perfect for celebrating Earth Day, Citizen Sugar is offering one lucky winner $500 in gas relief. ("Gas relief." Har.) All you have to do is register and take a brief quiz (e.g., "how much does it cost to fill up a 2008 Hummer 2 [H2]?"), and then you'll be be entered in lottery. And if you win, you'll can temporarily stop whining about the price of gas these days. Oh, and the contest is......

Dun Hunter is not your average Texas teenager. He created his own band, PlayRadioPlay! and released his debut album, Texas just this month. (We featured PlayRadioPlay! as "Albums: Looking Forward to 2008" back at the beginning of the year.) He's being noticed and not just by us. Rolling Stone included PlayRadioPlay! as one of the "Artists to Watch: Seven Acts Who Are Defining Rock, Soul and Hip-Hop in 2008" - not bad for being only......

Are you a poet? Do you know it? (Ouch.) Well, Poets Eleven, a citywide poetry contest showcasing prose created by residents of each of San Francisco's 11 districts, above, is now accepting submissions. You work will be scrutinized by San Francisco Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman, so snap on your thinking and creativity caps, kids. Local poets are asked to submit up to three works for review. Mr. Hirschman, we're told, is interested in pieces......

Popscene and Live 105 proudly present SXSF : A South By San Francisco Music Fest with Persephone's Bees (Oakland), The Duke Spirit (UK), Ting Tings (UK) and Hottub (Oakland). We all know (at least you should) that Persephone's Bees puts out some awesome Russian-influenced pop music but this particular show we are most excited about The Duke Spirit. They are hitting the West Coast for a run of dates through LA, Seattle and San......

Photo: 37 °C/Flickr James Brown impersonator killing it at Saturday's 27th Annual Black Cuisine Cooking Contest & Street Festival.......

When we first mentioned Nicole Atkins, back in October, we genuinely loved her unique sound calling it "...an incredibly beautiful masterpiece of songwriting and story-telling." Almost six months later, we still agree with our initial reaction - if anything, it's grown on us even more. Our friends over at Noise: SFBG are totally into her as well. "There's always room for more melodrama in my life - just as long as it's strictly of......

Oh my God, we're so there. If there was ever a reason to kick it over at the Bayview Hunters Point Multipurpose Senior Services, this would be it. Join us tomorrow in our quest for clinical obesity as we head over the the 27th Annual Black Cuisine Cooking Contest & Street Festival. We're not sure what to expect, exactly; the only noir-esque cuisine that comes to mind are peach cobbler, collard greens, and lots......

It's going to be a grand ole party (sorry, we had too...) over at Bottom of the Hill on Sunday night where Grand Ole Party will be headlining. They just finished a very successful tour with Rilo Kiley and Vampire Weekend and are celebrating the physical release of their debut album, Humanimals (which came out earlier this month). Check out three of their recently recorded songs over at Daytrotter; it's pretty damn cool. Hailing......

Cosco Busan Update: ...

Tickets, tickets, anyone want some tickets? We have two tickets to Friday's concert at Slim's featuring: Until June, Matt White and Melee. We've already told you that you don't want to be late to this show, because all three bands are equally as good. Until June, from sunny Phoenix, traveled to Los Angeles in hopes of a record deal. Obviously, at first, they got lost in the mix, but promised themselves that if they didn't......

Londonist pondered who might be the next sponsors of the London Eye and whether or not readers would be willing to donate £1,000 each for a Londonist Eye.Shanghaiist was shocked to find a cameltoe in the city's only English-language paper. Gothamist believed that a writer who wanted pre-gentrified gritty New York and ended up getting beaten up during a mugging learned his lesson.DCist followed Mayor Adrian Fenty and the D.C. Council to New Hampshire,......

There was no sign of Mark "Cutback" Davis or Bob "Jungle Death" Gerard in the waves off Pillar Point on Saturday, but 24 of the world's ballsiest surfers were there to test their mettle against the huge, angry swell that is the Mavericks break. When the foam cleared and the judges scorecards were tallied, it was 24-year-old Greg Long from San Clemente, SoCal that ended up taking home the title of Mavericks Big Wave champion for 2008.

Twenty-four of the world's most bitchin-ass surfers are on their way to Half Moon bay for a dangerous showdown at this year's 2008 Mavericks Surf Contest. Shore stars like Shawn Rhodes, Greg Long (San Clemente FTW), Brock Little, Randy Cone, Santa Cruz's Tyler Smith, and more will take part in tomorrow's dangerous and exhilarating surf contest. The cold waters of Half Moon Bay combined with the Pacific storm winter weather make some of "the most dangerous waves in the world." This battle of the sea is not to be missed. Dude....

Oh, those nifty New Yorkers; it's all about them. As usual. Why? Because David Gockley, General Director of the SF Opera, announced that the company will start producing HD broadcasts of performances for theaters all across the states. Lovely, right? But the NYT then turns it into some kind of pissing contest because they did it first. Hrumph. Dude, why can't we all just get along. It's not like people in Chico are saturated with......

Vote early, vote often...

Chucky appears to be back on the homeless beat this week with two stories about it. One is something that might piss people off, the other something that might not piss people off. We'll start with the one that might piss people off one first so we can cheer everyone up at the end with the one that won’t piss people off and make the post heart-warming, just in time for the holidays. ...

Well, this sounds like the perfect (and perfectly frightening) holiday entertainment for both kiddies and adults. On December 20, 21, and 22 the San Francisco Symphony will perform the entire Harold Arlen ("Harold, darling -- stand up!") and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg score to The Wizard of Oz right in the comfort and holiday splendor of Davies Symphony Hall. And although Rufus Wainwright will not be there to cover Garland's tunes while sporting a blue......

Guess when the Busan leaves S.F. Bay!...

SFist interviews Rachel Schutz of Darlybird and hosts a giveaway of some of her awesome wares...

Kids, it's time to get rocking. (Especially before the "Private Party" dry spell that is coming on. Yikes.) This week, the San Francisco music gods are offering a vast array of newbies and veterans - something that we will graciously partake of any day of the week. Now that the bets are in (okay, so no one really cast any bets - how boring is that?), you can go to Cafe du Nord, tonight,......

The Mavericks surf contest waiting period will start soon...

(Barry Bonds is on SFGate's Crime page. Ha!) -- A 19-year-old woman was shot -- "in the back today...at 5:39 p.m." Huh?-- during an attempted street robbery in SF's Visitacion Valley. Attacked at Velasco Avenue and Santos Street, she is currently at SFGH and listed in stable condition. And the two suspects? Are still at large. -- UC Berkeley journalism student Kevin Jones, 27, "pleaded no contest today to a misdemeanor charge of vehicular......

The new Maltese Falcon at John's Grill is less "pigeony" (Image: The Colbert Report). Applause to John's Grill owner John Konstin, who decided to put some money into the arts. When the Maltese Falcon replica displayed in the restaurant was stolen earlier this year, Mr. Konstin offered a $25,000 reward for its return. The heartless culprits were never found, however, and Mr. Konstin decided against buying an inexpensive replica or "fake," as the momentarily-panicked......

-- Bonds' final, fatal backlash continues. (I wonder how he spent his day today? Ugh.) [SFGate, SF Examiner, FCJ , SFBG, The Snitch]...

Here's todays sports news...

The International Animation Festival starts tonight, kids. And speaking of them, don't bring yours to tomorrow night's wonderfully smut-filled orgy of animated shorts, Top Drawers. What's more, one lucky soul will get a free pair of tickets to tomorrow night's screening. You will have the chance to see such "playful, sexy shorts" as Signe Baumane's Teat Beat of Sex and Kelly Sears's Drift. So, the fifth person to send us an email to editor......

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. All bands this week featured in our Standout section are from the Bay Area. Standouts: 1. Arp - In Light: Pop minimalism aren't two words that aren't often placed in the same sentence, let alone right next to each other, but Arp, based out of San Francisco, has fused pop and minimalism together to something organic and exciting. Also categorized......