How exciting! San Francisco mayor Ed Lee was on KQED's Forum this morning, ostensibly to "discuss the economy, the future of MUNI [sic], the city college accreditation crisis, State Senator Leland Yee's corruption case and other issues" with host Michael Krasny.

Lee is known for his challenges speaking extemporaneously, perhaps one of the reasons that he rarely gives one-on-one interviews or speaks without abundant preparation. Good for KQED for making it past Lee's notoriously protective press office to get him today! In celebration of this banner event, Eve Batey liveblogged this interview with SFist pal Aaron Sankin, a former editor at Huffington Post San Francisco and current reporter at the Daily Dot. (Sankin says that he "has a fake start-up with an app that automatically puts Ed Lee's mustache on a picture of your face. The company is called Stshr and is looking for investors." He's kidding, we assume.)

9:40 AM (Aaron Sankin): I know it's 10 AM on a Monday, but that's no reason not to turn listening to NPR into an awesome drinking game. Take a drink every time the following happens:

- Ed Lee shows up 20 minutes late to the interview and the first thing he says is, "F*cking Muni"
- Someone uses the word "techie" in a pejorative
- Someone uses the word "techie" in a positive way
- You realize the world would be a better place if no one used the word "techie" ever again
- Ed Lee loses his train of thought while answering a question because he is "still recovering from an epic 4/20, man."
- Ed Lee loses his train of thought while answering a question because "4/20 isn't just a day, it's a state of mind, man."
- Someone calls Google Glass a "Segway for your face"
- Ed Lee insists only the reason he went back on his word and decided to run for a full term is because he is really a time traveler sent from the future to stop Leland Yee from becoming the mayor of San Francisco
- Ed Lee begins answering a question about evictions by reminding everyone he used to be a housing rights attorney
- Ed Lee begins answering a questions about turning off parking meters on Sundays by reminding everyone he used to be a meter maid
- Ed Lee pauses before answering a question because he has to lean over and ask permission from Rose Pak, who is standing behind him smoking a cigar
- Ed Lee thanks Michael Krasny for the interview by naming him an honorary survivor of the 1906 earthquake

10:06 AM (Eve Batey): Lee jumps right in by basically recapping his State of the City address points, ending with his concerns that city agencies are "nickel and diming everybody." I think I know what this (cough Sunday meters cough) is about!

10:08 AM (Eve Batey): Lee answers Michael Krasny's question on how tech people are snapping up housing by talking about how he's the jobs mayor. OK? Then he dives into development, saying that a lot is being built, but seems to be more focused on talking about mortgages and down-payments, not about apartments.

10:11 AM (Eve Batey): First mention of changes to Mid-Market. Is that part of the drinking game?

10:11 AM (Aaron Sankin): Ed Lee says: ‟Obviously affordable housing cannot be made without market rate housing because the developers of market rate housing are the ones paying for the affordable housing.”

San Francisco says: ‟Voting against the 8 Washington project proves we don’t believe you.”

10:13 AM (Eve Batey): Lee thanks Mark Leno for his statewide Ellis Act loophole closure legislation, talking a lot of smack about speculators who are dumping long-term renters. Local legislation to close Ellis Act loopholes, as proposed by Supe David Campos, goes unmentioned. Burn?

10:15 AM (Aaron Sankin): Ed Lee backs off pushing for a $15/hr minimum wage for San Francisco and instead says he’s ‟open for anything up to $15.” Ed Lee mentions his history as a tenants’ rights lawyer. DRINK!

10:18 AM (Batey/Sankin): Ed Lee’s response to a critic who charges that he focuses too much on making tech companies happy and not enough talking with nonprofits. ‟She should look at my schedule.” Mr Mayor, we in the media have been trying to get a look at your full calendar for ages! INVITATION ACCEPTED! When and where?

(Aaron Sankin) This is what I assume is on Ed Lee’s personal schedule:

8am - Wake up

8:30am - Spin class

9:45am - Professional mustache waxing

10am - Start being mayor

10am-6pm - Do mayor stuff

6:15pm - Twitter happy hour

7:30pm - Yogilates

8:45pm - Professional mustache waxing

9pm - Sleep

10:19 AM (Eve Batey): Lee brings up "struggling" Twitter employees who are making only $50K a year, and are "worried about the schools."

10:22 AM (Aaron Sankin): Ed Lee says that he spends a lot of time talking to employees at tech companies like Twitter to understand their concerns. He notes that a lot of them aren’t making millions of dollars. I assume this is why he wants to increase the city’s minimum wage: to help all of the poor Front End Javascript engineers get off the streets.

10:24 AM (Eve Batey): "Mark Farrell and I are talking very intensely" which sounds sexy! But he's actually talking about changing how SF deals with the homeless.

10:25 AM (Eve Batey): Lee pimps his $500 million bond measure for "safer streets," which is a new spin on a plan to get that money to repave streets, fix Muni vehicles, and a lot of other transit initiatives! (Because how can you question "safer streets," you monster?) He's "so sad" about our rash of pedestrian fatalities, which is why we need to spend this $500 M.

10:26 AM (Eve Batey): Madeline from SF calls bullshit on city hall promoted pedestrian safety slogan "be nice think twice," tells the mayor he's cut the funding for safety, says "it really has to be in place now." Lee says he's increasing funding, not cutting. Blah blah "vision zero."

10:31 AM (Eve Batey): Morris from SF calls in to ask about payroll taxes, but doesn't seem to understand how they work. The Mayor offers a gentle correction, talks about plan to end payroll taxes and initiate business taxes instead. Plus, more about $15 minimum wage, which, if that had been a drinking game item, I'd be in the ER right now.

10:33 AM (Aaron Sankin): One important question that has thus far gone unasked: What is the city of San Francisco doing about the fact that Thee Oh Sees, the city’s best garage band, broke up/moved to LA? LA?!

10:34 AM (Eve Batey): Banner moment. In answer to Twitter question, Lee makes first mention of Marc Benioff, says SF USD middle schools will be "all wified up." Someone please make a disgusting definition of that phrase in the Urban Dictionary so I can link to it, thanks.

10:35 AM (Aaron Sankin): Ed Lee’s solution to the ‟exodus” of students from the city’s public school system: ‟The only way to invite more students into the public schools is to make sure that they’re the best.” The mayor apparently forgot that middle school is the WORST.

10:36 AM (Eve Batey): Oh my god, this is why I can't stand call-in radio, it's so squirm inducing. Guy tells loooong story about how much it sucked when he went downtown and couldn't find anything he wanted to buy. I think it was in support of getting rid of Sunday parking meters but it kind of made NO SENSE. If this is the poster child for why Sunday metered parking is good to eradicate, smdh.

(Aaron Sankin) BREAKING: Caller who lives in San Francisco admits he drives his own personal car in the city on a regular basis/is a terrible monster who should be shunned from polite society.

"TL;DR Just in case I get a serious progressive challenger in my next election, I want to make sure my moderate, car-owning Western base knows on which side of the gas tank their bread is buttered." -- Ed Lee

10:40 AM (Eve Batey): Tech worker crows that her current job is better than her previous one as a public school teacher, and that she shouldn't be villainized for riding a shuttle. Given the tone of your note, I am sure there are plenty of other reasons to villainize you, madam.

(Aaron Sankin) Questioner: ‟I’m a 5th generation San Franciscan who went to SF public schools and a school teacher who is also a musician and now make a good salary working at a tech company.” Questioner claimed she just wanted to say she shouldn’t be vilified for making money, but probably wanted to brag about being the best San Franciscan ever.

10:41 AM (Aaron Sankin): ‟If the talent stays in San Francisco, the companies will always be here.”

- Ed Lee, who also argued it was extremely important to give tax breaks to ensure that tech companies stay in the city

10:43 AM (Eve Batey): "it's for the larger good" Ed Lee says regarding the eradication of Sunday parking, claims that residents are yelling at him for asking for support for the $500 M bond measure, even as they receive parking tickets. It's so true, everyone on the streets is talking about bond measures! HAHAHA no they are not.

"It's a surprise and shocking" when you get a parking ticket. "It's hurtful revenue...if we stop nickel and diming you, will you support us on the big ticket issues?" Lee rhetorically asks.

He says "why can't we have a day" where you don't have to pay for things. Great! Then Muni's going to be free on Sundays, too? Hellooo?

10:46 AM (Eve Batey): Caller tells Lee that Muni sucks, that people don't pay fares and that it's generally a mess. Lee seems surprised, asks what lines she rides, says he'll "take your comments seriously." It was so weird, it seemed like Muni being a mess was news to him. That can't be, right? Anyway, I am sure that $500 M will fix that, never mind.

(Aaron Sankin) Ed Lee makes a promise to ride Muni with a caller who complained about shoddy service. It’s a date! Does Mrs. Lee know that her husband just asker another woman out on the lamest date ever?

10:48 AM (Eve Batey): Questioner asks about homeless crackheads," Lee asks if the questioner is talking about the homeless, about "crackheads," or about "homeless crackheads."

10:50 AM (Eve Batey): In answer to question about residents being evicted by unethical landlords, Lee says he wants to make sure rent controlled properties remain rent controlled. I don't have any shit to talk about this.

10:52 AM (Eve Batey): OH SNAP KRASNY "techies won't even take the same buses as us!" (also, DRINK)

(Aaron Sankin) Ed Lee reminds everyone that all of the private shuttles clogging the pubic bus stops don’t just belong to tech companies—some belong to hospitals or schools. He’s right. There’s the Google Flu Trends Bus and the Google Scholar Bus...

10:54 AM (Eve Batey): Caller seems mad about micro-apartments. Lee punts to Supervisor Scott Wiener, says looking at them was his idea. Sharing credit or casting blame? YOU DECIDE.

10:56 AM (Eve Batey): Why didn't Lee OK Board of Supes resolution to divest from fossil fuels? Because he doesn't approve every resolution, Lee says. Is that a tautology?

(Aaron Sankin) Ed Lee says he has a practice of not signing every non-binding resolution that the board puts on his desk, which is why he didn’t attach his name to a letter urging the city to divest from fossil fuel companies. Although, when the Board passes a non-binding resolution declaring ‟Ed Lee is actually a really fun guy when you get to know him, also his hair always smells like strawberries,” he’ll change his tune.

10:58 AM (Eve Batey): "We're trying to create an in-migration of African-American families," then talks about development in the "southeastern corridor" (that's Bayview and Hunters Point). I'm not gonna touch that one.

And that's it! Not a lot of surprises during the hour: Lee was very focused on his talking points, ($15 minimum wage, $500 transportation bond, development), wedging them in even when they didn't really fit the question. I'm definitely bummed that we never got to the KQED-promised topics of "the city college accreditation crisis, State Senator Leland Yee's corruption case and other issues."

Or, as Aaron Sankin says: The biggest takeaway from this interview is that Ed Lee is excited for everyone to look at his personal calendar. On one hand, actually digging through the mayor’s to-do list will likely show how dreary the day-to-day reality of running what one real estate blog labeled the fourth best city in America actually is. On the other hand, it may reveal he spends every night putting on a skin-tight costume and fighting super villains.

Thanks for reading, everyone! You can listen to the full interview here, how do you think the Mayor fared?

After months of largely ignored racing on the bay, the America's Cup comes down to one final race. The stakes are high: on the line are one bajillionaire's inflated ego and the honor of an entire island nation made up of insanely friendly people. The two teams are racing their absurdly expensive pterodactyl yachts in pursuit of the oldest trophy in international sports. It is impossible to imagine there could ever be a greater sporting event in modern times. (Except for maybe the puppy bowl.) The final race is scheduled to begin at 1:15 p.m. PST.

After neglecting the America's Cup Village for the better part of a year, we are currently coming to you live from the America's Cup media outpost on Pier 27, where the password for the free Internet is "news*2go!" and you needn't be on a boat to see the action. (Because there is air conditioning and TV screens and very little natural light) There is, however, an endless supply of sponsored Red Bull. Outside, a flood of eager fans waited for the gates to open around 10 a.m. this morning. Parked just outside is a yacht with another yacht on it:

At a 10:30 a.m. press conference, in what will one day serve as San Francisco's cruise ship terminal, Australian Regatta Director Iain Murray reminded a handful of reporters that there would only be one race today, assuming the breeze didn't exceed the 24.4 knot wind speed limit. "I know we're all anxious — desperate — for this thing to conclude today," Murray said, "but I will not put these boats at risk." When asked whether he would like to be Regatta Director in the next Cup, Murray politely dodged the question: "I felt privileged to have held this far. I think we need a little time to let the dust settle, but lets see where we go."

Again, racing officially begins at 1:15 p.m. today. We'll be updating periodically throughout the day.

Update, 1:10 p.m.: Your SFist correspondent isn't one of the lucky photographers going out on the chase boats, but they're all dressed like the guys from Deadliest Catch anyway, so joke's on them, really. Instead of suiting up for photos on the water, I went to check out the scene around the village. Loudspeakers are blasting the new Arcade Fire track, followed "Don't Stop Believin'". A race announcer on a podium decided that this race is "on like Donkey Kong!" — which is a stupid thing that no one who gets paid to say things out loud should ever say. We've spotted more than one adult person riding a razor scooter.

"It's on like Donkey Kong!" - That guy on the left. (Photo: Andrew Dalton/SFist)

In search of an adult beverage, we managed to sweet talk our way into Oracle's viewing lounge with the help of a very friendly woman who reminded us of Mrs. Coach Taylor ("I'm with the media.") We are currently bringing you updates from Larry's private lounge, where we are drinking Larry's Miller High Life. (Full disclosure: I'm rooting for New Zealand.)

The boats are in the start box, this race is about to get underway.

Update: Oracle Team USA WINS!

Update: 2:15 p.m. After taking a lead through mark 2, the Kiwis quickly fell behind on the way to mark 3. With the lead change, the folks in Oracle's private lounge started popping bottles of champagne. Because why not. In the parking lot that served as the public viewing area, someone was burning sage. Back inside, Oracle's guests instagrammed TV screens, because even in Oracle world, you still don't have much of a view of the racing.

(Photo: Andrew Dalton/SFist)

Just before Oracle crossed the finish line, someone in the lounge fell off the stool they were standing on, spilling their drink on the temporary carpet in the process. Everyone else lined up for a good spot to snap cellphone photos. One white haired guy with a "REPORTER/BLOGGER" lanyard around his neck took photos of the TV screen with a telephoto lens. This guy wore an incredibly patriotic t-shirt that we can only image he reserves for the 4th of July and billionaire yacht races:

(Photo: Andrew Dalton/SFist)

Ellison himself hopped onto the Oracle AC72 yacht along with his hired gladiators. It'll be another 30 minutes or so before they all return to the stage to spray each other with champagne. In the meantime, here are some dogs on the frontlines:

(Photo: Andrew Dalton/SFist)

After a brief hiatus and a gracious introduction of the Kiwi team, former Mayor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Ed Lee, the architects of some contentious deals that brought the Cup to San Francisco in the first place, celebrated Oracle's big win. Newsom wore an Oracle ballcap instead of his trademark L'Oréal hair gel. Mayor Lee exclaimed, in his tinny Kermit the Frog voice, "the 34th America's Cup is over and WE WON!" Oracle Team USA strut out onto the stage to the tune of AC/DC's "Back in Black."

Mayor Ed Lee congratulates Team Oracle USA. (Photo: Andrew Dalton/SFist)

With the entire team onstage, champagne was popped, champagne was poured into the Cup itself, and champagne ended up all awkwardly soaking the Mayor's suit. Ed Lee would return to the office slightly stickier than before.

(Photo: Andrew Dalton/SFist)

Note: We'll be listing the winners up here at the top, scroll down for live updates and commentary.
President & Vice President: As of about 8:25 p.m. PST Barack Obama has been re-elected President of the United States.
District 9 Supervisor: David Campos (unopposed incumbent)
District 11 Supervisor: John Avalos (unopposed incumbent)

The polls don't close in California until 8 p.m., but our pals at DCist are keeping an eye on all your General Election news. Meanwhile, we'll be updating live with all the state, local and relevant presidential election updates as we get them. Feel free to root for your favorite supervisor candidate or state proposition in the comments. Color commentary from your SFist editors is, as always, provided free of charge.

6:25 p.m. DCist reports that the Associated Press has Romney and Obama in a dead heat for electoral college votes 152-152 over the President. Oof. This could be a long night.

Meanwhile, closer to home, we can't officially call anything yet because the polls are still open but barring any unforeseen voting machine tampering or social media write-in campaigns, David Campos will still be your District 9 Supervisor. John Avalos, also running as an unopposed incumbent, will continue to rule District 11 with a progressive fist. Feel free to let us know what hilarious write-in votes you came up with, D9 and D11 voters.

7:10 p.m. We're taking impromptu and completely unscientific exit polls in the heated District Five Supervisor race. (We're pestering everyone with an "I Voted!" sticker who walks by the SFist Western Branch Office on Divisadero Street, basically.) Exit polls are so far inconclusive, but anecdotal evidence suggests some people don't really care about Julian Davis' handsy past.

On the national scope, CNN is calling Pennsylvania for Obama, which is a big win for the President. Although Associated Press still has Obama and Romney neck-and-neck in electoral college votes, CNN wants to keep up some suspense and is currently predicting 158 electoral votes for Romney and 147 for Obama.

7:15 p.m. We just heard Massachusetts voters approved a ballot measure to legalize medical marijuana. Welcome to the club, stoned Bostonians!

7:40 p.m. The California polls close in 20 minutes, folks. If you haven't voted yet, now would be a good time to get in line at your polling places.

Meanwhile in Wisconsin, Tammy Baldwin defeated former Governor Tommy Thompson to become the first openly gay member of the U.S. Senate. (Nobody counts Larry Craig, apparently.) DCist has more.

8 p.m. Right on schedule, CNN is already calling California (and our 55 electoral college votes) for Obama. That puts the President at 249, with 270 needed to win.

We're still waiting on the S.F. Department of Elections to release their first set of results at 8:45 p.m. In the meantime, here's a look inside the (not candidate-affiliated) Election Night party at the Independent on Divisadero, where the line is literally around the block. SFist predicts some locals will be experiencing election night hangovers tomorrow:

8:25 p.m. CNN, Fox News and every other network has called the presidential race for Obama. Florida and Virginia are still too close to call and Mitt Romney currently leads the popular vote. Anyhow, Gavin Newsom is stoked!

We have it! @barackobama for another 4 years! #election2012, even Fox News projects #Obama re-elected president

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 7, 2012

Local Republicans, meanwhile, are not so excited:

Was at SF #GOP party as Fox News first calls OH & then #obama wins "What is wrong with this country?" woman chants Recount #election2012

— Steve Rhodes (@tigerbeat) November 7, 2012

9 p.m. With our first round of local results reported (only absentee and early ballots at this point) London Breed has a slight lead in District 5, with Christina Olague and Julian Davis trailing. Breed doesn't have a majority of the votes though, so those could easily get shuffled around once Ranked Choice Voting kicks in.

In District 1, Eric Mar has a slight lead over David Lee, but again — anybody's game here.

We won't see the numbers on election day ballots until 9:30 p.m. at the earliest, so we're taking a quick smoke break.

Updates can be found here.