Café du Nord will be the setting for a showcase of three talented local rock bands tonight: Raised By Robots, The Aimless Never Miss, and The Paper Sons. The Paper Sons, four extremely talented guys from the Bay Area, are known for their real alternative-rock sound (a bit of a throw back to the early 90's but somehow still very current). We got a chance to talk to Tom McCullough (pictured second to the left),......

Free bike light giveaway today only. ...

-- Carmen Jones: Based off of Georges Bizet's famous French opera Carmen, the adaptation was made into a successful Broadway musical, and then a '50s film staring Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte, and Pearl Bailey. Now, see it again on stage right here in SF. The curtain goes up tonight at the African-American Art & Culture Complex (762 Fulton); $15. -- The Halloween Friday Night Skate: Rollerskate (or blade) in your Halloween costume without breaking......

Leaving a label and starting a new one (with her new husband), Charlotte Martin finally has the musical freedom she has craved. Since her last release, On Your Shore (2004), Martin left RCA Records and created Dinosaur Fight Records with co-producer and husband, Ken Andrews. With this newfound freedom Martin has released two EP's, Darkest Hours and Veins and her latest full-length album, Stromata. Critics have lauded her latest efforts saying, "Stromata follows adventurous suit...reveling......

True story from a crowded J-Church this morning. We were sitting quietly, a little zoned out, holding the 20 oz. cup of coffee that we'd obtained at our neighborhood cafe with both of our hands, which had become rather cold from time outside. Yes, we had a lid on it. The J-Church, particularly when it's on the streets heading from Dolores Park up to Market St., is a little herky-jerky. One well-known hazard faced by regular MUNI riders (whether bus or street car): you take a risk if you stand or try to move in advance of the vehicle actually coming to a complete stop. Chances are good you might take a dive if you try it. Hasn't this happened to most of us at one time or another?...

Buy yourself some peanuts and cracker jack: Baseball All-Star Game mania continues apace in San Francisco! The All Star Fan Forum runs until 8 p.m. tonight. You can just hang out, or you could attend a session on teaching kids how to play catch (7 p.m.), and learn how to score a baseball game (4 and 6). If you're so filled with baseball fever you're skipping work, you can also meet the women players who......

Still plenty of shows for the Frameline , SF Improv, and the Hole in the Head festivals.... Inside Storytime, a monthly reading series at the Rickshaw Stop, features five local authors, reading from their latest books. This months theme - metamorphoses. 6:30-8:30pm with a sliding scale entry fee up to $10. 155 Fell St., SF. After the reading, stick around the spot for Girlezque, a glammy burlesque troup from the UK. Dance party with......

Head over to Mezzanine for SF360 Film+Club, a monthly series taking films out of the theatre and putting them in the club shows a sexy, bloody, ass-kicking redux of Macbeth, directed by Geoffrey Wright. Complimentary cocktails from 7-8pm, with the film starting at 7:30pm. $8 at the door, 444 Jessie St. Drop by Books Inc in the Castro for a reading with local author Dr. William Lipsky from his book, Gay and Lesbian San Francisco.......

Geek out! At Ask a Scientist SF, a monthly lecture slash happy hour with a guest speaker on some sciencey topic. This month's meet-up touches on everything you ever wanted to know about terra incognita, Antarctica, with Kurt Cuffey, a UC Berkeley professor of geography. Get there by 7pm to snag a beer and a seat. Axis Cafe, 1208 Eighth St., SF. If Le Tigre and The Shangri-Las had a British love child, it......

Let's Dance! Ever wanted to dabble in different styles of dance but wasn't sure you wanted to drop a pocketful of cash for fire dancing lessons? Now's your chance. We're right in the middle of Bay Area National Dance Week -- you can test your skill at belly dancing, hula, ballet, classical, tango and more in a series of free lessons this week, all over the city. Tonight's selection includes hip hop, capoeira, and poi.......

Meat and Greet Self-described as a print magazine of meat culture, Meatpaper celebrates the launch of Issue Zero at Sugarlump coffee lounge tonight in the Mission. Tastings and demonstrations by local restaurants and meat companies like Incanto and Prather Ranch serve up festivities (non-carne nosh will be available for the veggie crowd); drinks will be provided by Trumer Pilsner , Sonnema VodkaHerb and others, along with a gallery of meat-inspired art to feast your eyes......

Although it's one of our very favorite cult flicks from the 80s, we have never seen Repo Man on the big screen. It screens tonight at the Castro (429 Castro St at 17th), as part of the series, Tormented Terrestrials Tuesdays. Starring Emilio Estevez in a much more appealing role than the dopey jock from the Breakfast Club, the film also features cult actors, Harry Dean Stanton and Dick Rude, and a soundtrack of......

One of our favorite independent bookstores, Modern Times, (888 Valencia St. at 20th) presents author, Nick Mamatas reading from his hilarious new novel Under My Roof, the story of telepathic tween Herbert Weinberg, whose father Daniel decides to strike a blow for freedom by building a nuclear device, planting it in the lawn jockey in his front yard, and declaring independence from the United States. Plus special guest, local firecracker and Audre Lorde Award-winning performance......

It's the first Thursday of the month, the official "wine and cheese chaser" day to descend on downtown art galleries and people watch. A couple of highlights of tonight's receptions: ARTworkSF (49 Geary St., 2nd Floor) presents (sub) text: coded and deconstructedlanguage, curated by Matt McKinley and featuring three Bay Area artists, Maggie Malloy, Eric Bohr,and Judith Miller. In paintings and mixed media works, the artists demonstrate how each non-verbally communicates both message and meaning--the......

We regularly try to come up with a clever title that sums up our event picks for the day, and today's Tonight events seem to comprise a number of the big trends fueled by internet-land. Food activism - New College (766 Valencia St. near 19th) hosts "Eating Locally, Thinking Globally," organized by Christopher Cook of the Grotto. Join food experts, activists, and San Francisco city supervisors for this evening of education -- and action......

We were strolling down Market St a few days ago when our eyes were caught by this fetching image -- apparently, He Who Walks Backwards has been doing so in the Castro, with a can of spray paint in hand. Ha ha ha, we love to joke about The Prince of Filth, but really this is just an advertisement for the sure-to-be-crapulent remake of The Omen. How considerate of Universal to spray paint a symbol......

We'll admit it -- we've been watching a lot of movies this week, and our reading has fallen by the wayside. However, our blissfully empty weekend is almost within reach, which means a trip to one of our local independent bookstores, as well as to the library to pick up our online reserves. Right now, all we want to do is lie in bed with the pets and a good book or three, so......