California, Please Vote No On Proposition 8 from Stop8.org on Vimeo. While Sarah Palin held her own last night during last night's debate, more or less, and Joe Biden shed an effeminate tear that touched millions, both team McCain-Palin and team Barack-Biden bit it hard when it came to human rights. Take, for example, their stances against same-sex marriage, which both candidates, it seems, are 100% against. (But Palin doesn't mind the queers doing......

Hey gay couples! You're in terrible danger. Fortunately, we can help. Well, not we exactly -- SFist_Matt, to be specific, has taken a break from writing stern emails to Muni, and is now working on a really neat online video project to protect marriage equality. Check out Stop8.org -- Matt's working on a series of 30-second documentary videos, explaining who California's gay spouses are, why the freedom to marry is so important to us......

More time is being wasted over in Berkeley over those damn oak trees. This time the Berkeley City Council voted last night that they it "will not seek a stay of a judge's order allowing UC Berkeley's athletic center project to proceed," according to CBS 5. Good. Also, many of the protesters, who awesomely are starting to view themselves as Christ-like figures as of late, held a small rally outside Berkeley City Hall last......

After a judge ruled that the University of California can cut down those cumbersome old oak trees, the kids still stuck up in the grove aren't coming down. What else is new, right? But in the end, the protesters have no one to blame but themselves. The twee aesthetics the sitters used to save said trees turned off any fence sitters, and "Dumpster Muffin"'s dilettante-ish and affected temper tantrum earlier this month made some supporters......

While police have tried to starve and cutoff supplies to the few remaining protesters up in the UCB oak grove, another tree-sitter was arrested yesterday afternoon at around 5 p.m. Performing yoga exercises on the median strip on Piedmont Avenue in front of the grove of trees, it seems, police arrested someone going by the moniker "Redwood." According to university spokesperson Dan Mogulof, the protester came along "very quietly." Yesterday, as you may recall,......

UCB's plans to mow down an oak grove and put up a sports training facility were put on hold. It seems a judge halted the plans until "the university can prove the project would not violate state earthquake-safety laws, a judge ruled Wednesday," says the Gate. The university, though, thinks it's a rule in their favor, keeping "their plan alive, arguing that the center would not violate state law because it would not touch......

The battle to save an oak grove on the UC-Berkeley campus turned even uglier yesterday. Protesters sang bizarre Native American-ish sounding songs (seriously, check this out) and threw buckets of urine at police and arborists (where "an acrid tang hung in the air afterward." Ew.) One female tree-sitter was forcibly and understandably removed and placed into custody after she bit an arborist. Millipede, as she now goes by, was arrested and might possible be......

Five remaining tree climbers over at the University of California at Berkeley -- you know, the ones who have been protesting the school's plan to tear down the Memorial Oak Grove to put in a shiny new ball-throwing stadium -- are being threatened to come down via 25 police officers and a cherry picker. According to UCB officials, the tree protesters might have to come down as early as today, Tuesday, or be removed......

Well, you can breathe a sigh of relief, citizen of the Bay Area. Tempestuous celebrity couple Sean Penn and Robin Wright-Penn have withdrawn their petition for a divorce. Apparently, the Oscar winning method actor took to the stage this past Monday night at some sort of Eddie Vedder cabaret revue and "reportedly dedicating a song to his wife." Sniff. The sweet and sour couple who reside in Marin, if you recall, called it quits......

(Sing it, Tammy. Just...sing it.) Marsha Garces Williams and Oscar-winning actor and ADHD comedian Robin Williams have filed for divorce. Sigh. The local celebrity couple were tied together for over long 19 years. But according to Leah Garchik, trouble between the two has been prevalent for some time. Garces was not at Williams' side when he was honored by the San Francisco International Film Festival last spring, and amid reports of many sightings in......

We enjoy the following review -- although we're only using part of it for it devolves into anti-Hillary rhetoric, San Francisco's latest form of socially-acceptable sexism -- because a) it turns out that Yelp has an entire category dedicated to Gavin Newsom's hair, and b) it's pro-Gavin Newsom locks. (If you want to see some actual janky-ass hair, walk down Valencia Street or sit on a bench at Zeitgeist on any given day. Because:......

Saturday night we had the pleasure to watch one of Noise Pop's most intriguing local acts: Wallpaper. We interviewed Eric Frederic - the man behind it all - earlier in the week and had even listened to his new EP, T REX on his MySpace page but we had no idea it was going to be that much fun. We were on such a high from Wallpaper's set that we didn't want to ruin it......

Join us tonight at the Fillmore, where Sia (one of our favorites) will be headlining. We saw her at the end of last year and the show was definitely fantastic; we highly recommend checking out tonight's show. Her latest album, Some People Have Real Problems, is stellar and has garnered critical success jumping to #26 on the Billboard charts, selling more than 20,000 copies and finishing ahead of fellow press darling Kate Nash (all in......

Lucas (1986), Say Anything (1989), My Bloody Valentine (1981): The first film has socially-retarded Corey Haim falling head over heels in love with a sensitive football player, Charlie Sheen, or something like that; Cameron Crowe's tale of teenage love and angst has John Cusack causing egregious noise pollution when he holds up a ghettoblaster pumping out a Peter Gabriel ballad; and the final film has a murderer in a small coal mining town killing......

It's time again for another Love on Wheels event...

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. Standouts: 1. Nada Surf - Lucky: Judging, merely on their live acoustic performance at Swedish American Music Hall, we have to say that we are gonna love this new album. We have to admit: we are new fans of Nada Surf (even though they been around since 1992). For whatever reason, we've completely missed out. Lucky for us, we had......

It's that time again. (We can't believe it's already Monday.) As usual, there is great music going on every night of the week so make sure you take the jump to see our daily recommendations. We've been counting down the days to see Sara Bareilles since we heard about this tour back in December. It's here. Finally. Bareilles will be opening for James Blunt in the VH1's "You Oughta Know" tour. There's no way you......

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......

It's wet. Very wet. [SFGate] Lunching in the Financial District. (And, OMG, the most darling thing ever: an escaping escape key!) [Gridskipper]British satirist (is there any other kind?) throws down les bon mots on subprime mortgages. [Valleywag]"Love," it seems, "is the answer." [Curbed]Mecca is on deathwatch. [Eater]New Chron editor revealed: Ward E. Bushee. [SFGate]Diplo is coming, and we couldn't be more elated. Seriously. [ASD]Michael Vick's dogs--as well as this insanely hot piece of tail......

Frank Chu gets all of the glory, but what about this guy? He's just as endearing, if not more so. Just because his narrative lacks some silly sci-fi bent, doesn't mean he's not as special, you guys. We demand a nightclub named in his honor by year's end. Whoever he is. Image credit: Omega it's jameth......

The Coachella 2008 line-up was announced last night. The reason you didn't hear anything about it was because they announced it in Mexico City, something to do with creating international ties. “This is really a way for us to get closer to our fans throughout Latin America who have been supportive of Coachella for the past 10 years,” says Goldenvoice’s Paul Tollett. Super; we just care about the line-up. We instantly checked to see who......

We love us some Mary Lynn Rajskub. To the point of rushed-to-the-hospital exhaustion, really. If you know her work, you see that it's hard not to. Popular from her role as CTU techie geek Chloe O'Brien on 24, Rajskub is also known for playing one of Adam Sandler's sisters in Punch Drunk Love and part of the indie elite ensemble in The Anniversary Party. But we love her best from our initial introduction to......

Dear automobile driver/registered Democrat, We heart you. Love, us We found this over at Nature abhors a vacuum, and we couldn't be more tickled. This is usually the kind of image that enrages both the counter-culture neo-conservative warriors of the Bay Area and the appalling politics-is-like-a-game-of-chess bullshit spouting elite. But, you see, this driver knows what time it is: just stick a democrat in the White House, because at this point, any of those......

Winning the title of first football player to be nabbed in the BALCO scandal, ex-49ers defensive lineman Dana Stubblefield was charged with lying to a federal agent when he denied taking steroids. Oh, Dana. he is expected to plead guilty in a San Francisco federal courtroom later on today. This comes on the heels of former Olympic athlete Marion Jones receiving a six month sentence for her involvement in the BALCO scandal. And now......

Rickie Lee Jones: Easy listening-ish jazz and pop/R&B songstress ("Chuck E.'s in Love") sings tonight at 8:30 p.m. at Cafe Du Nord; $30. SOLD OUTThe Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007): "An action western surrounding the private life and public exploits of America''s most notorious outlaw, Jesse James," starring pretty boys Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, and the best actress in the entire stratosphere, Mary-Louise Parker. Screens at 8 p.m.......

Back in December, The Lovemakers, a glam-rock outfit from Oakland, decided to stay put and forego their national tour to record their next full-length album entitled "Love is Dead." (For a band called "The Lovemakers," that's quite a title!) According to their blog, they've also decided to "be a 3-piece [band] again for the next while live. Scott, Lisa and Michael Urbano on drums. Back to basics. Very cool. Very fun." What we didn't......

Here she comes, Kimberly II. According to the Gate, "SF Mayor Newsom engaged to be married." Ta da. It seems that our former hard-partying stallion of a mayor "spoke with his girlfriend's father first and then proposed marriage." Oh, please. Sure. And will little singing mice also be making her wedding dress? Anyway, Gavin and Jennifer, congratulations and best wishes, respectively. Let's hope this one sticks. (Sorry, Beth.)......

If you haven't decided what you are doing to celebrate the New Year, it's okay - it seems that limited tickets are still available to tonight's biggest shows. We have a feeling they will go quick. If you don't like crowds, you can check out Radiohead's New Year's Eve bash on your couch with a bottle of booze. For the partiers, there are several options ranging from $8 at Hotel Utah to $100 at Cafe......

-- Those rectangular glassy lofts on Folsom and Fourth Streets are, in fact, award-winning rectangular glassy lofts. Also, love the windows. [Curbed] -- What to do in SF when it pours. [Gridskipper] -- Democrats having a spine? What a novel idea! [BeyondChron] -- Behold! Tinkerman's top 10 musical experiences and releases of 2007. [SFBG] -- Matt Gonzalez caught shopping at Community Thrift on Valencia. Dude, we also l-o-v-e Community Thrift! Why, it's where we......

Lady K has been busy with the finds lately! "You couldn't find a better love than ours if you would just let it in." Sounds like something we might've said to one jerk or another back in the day. Found in the Mission. You could fix this so easily. F'ing wake up. I can't believe youre willing to f this up. All I want is you. You shouldn't s*t all over the people who......