Wow, it feels like just yesterday that we posted something about the Symphony's Chinese New Year's concert for last year's Year of the Pig! Well, it's now the Year of the Rat, and the orchestra's raring to go! Last year's 14 year old solo pianist, Peng Peng, is now 15 and this year, he'll be playing a Mozart piano duet with 13-year-old up and comer Conrad Tao. The orchestra will again be helmed by Carolyn......

Oh Lord. Is this for real? From the SFist inbox this morning we received alarming news that Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel, like, totally hate Africans, or something like that. After the New Year's Eve announcement that the two were to enter holy matrimony, one concerned reader called "Mayor Newsom's Communication Office," wondering if the "rock he bought for his fiancee was not a blood diamond." After talking to an "incompetent" Newsom staff member......

Violence at SF nightclubs has been all the rage this year - all nine days, that is - and now a summit is being held this month in order to curb the violent tomfoolery. A few choice incidences to refresh your memory: Marcus Pepper, 26, was killed on New Year's Day outside a Ninth Street warehouse SOMA party; Clarence Corbin 34, was shot outside Jelly's Dance Cafe in Mission Bay; Club Vessel was, well,......

In our continuing Orwellian coverage, we present to you a BART fight captured on tape, which happened after midnight on New Year's Eve. Really now. We expect this kind of behavior on the 24-Divis or the 38-Geary, but not on BART. (It's classy and carpeted, for Christ's sake.) Anyway, we can't understand exactly what happened - although it looks, save the fearless citizen journalist, like a lot annoying people deserved a good punch or......

Photo of fireworks for New Year's Eve...

So, it's the eleventh hour and you've decided against crushing up a couple of Ambiens into a mug of fume blanc and calling it a year. Instead, you've turned that frown upside down, choosing to see what's happening tonight on New Year's Eve 2008. Good for you. And to help you out, here are some last-minute events for each neighborhood in the San Francisco. Just follow links for more info; they will provide you......

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......

Moby must be sick with envy over this one. Tonight the "unconventional young network," Emmy Award-winning Current TV, will air a taped, private, hour-long Radiohead concert on New Year's Eve (and on New Year's day on broadcast Current TV.) Thom Yorke and his merry band of croonies will perform each track off of their top-listed 2007 effort, In Rainbows. With words that could spark the battle for the title of Christ 2.0, David Neuman,......

Free Rides on New Years Eve!...

SFist saw Christmas Day turn tragic after a Siberian tiger escaped from her pen at the San Francisco Zoo, killing a visitor and mauling two others. Phillyist counted down the top ten items on Philadelphia's New Year's wish list. Gothamist looked at the wooden bikes being offered for NYC's first bike share program on Governors Island. LAist received a Christmas present in the form of a drunk Santa Claus in a g-string. Bostonist launched......

Mayor Gavin Newsom says that one of his "top priorities is to ensure that every San Franciscan has a safe and happy New Year. Riding Muni is a smart and green way to ring in the new year." (Thanks, Gavin!) And with a firm flick of his wrist, this New Year's Eve, starting at 8 p.m., Muni will be free all night, which is about what it's worth. The free rides come to a......

The last time we saw Sandra Bernhard, which was at Bimbo's earlier this year, we almost walked into her as we were leaving the ladies room and she was making her entrance from the back of the theater, crooning "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going." After a stagehand or security guy or au pair grabbed and shook the holy hell out of us, preventing us from colliding with Ms. Sandra, we went......

Gearing up for the big New Year's Eve bash, several artists are playing mini-residencies (two or three night stays) this weekend including: Cracker, The Radiators and ALO. If you schedule correctly, you could probably see everything that you want. Though New Year's Eve has some rocking concerts, we are going to cover those shows later in the week. For now, let's focus on Popscene's continued success in picking the perfect bands for their Thursday night......

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,......

My Morning Jacket's newest live recording entitled The 2006-2007 New Year’s Eve Skit Picture Disc Skit (Could they pick a longer title?) is available now through the band's website. The recording is from their New Year's Eve performance at the Fillmore last year. If you were there, you would know that it was a "Oregon Trail"-themed performance. (OMG, how cool is that!) But we're curious, how do you pull off an "Oregon Trail"-themed party?......

Our security guy returns this week with a post about the measure taken before a big event as well as some more answers to recently posed questions. ...

We enjoy visiting Charles Hogkins' web site, Burritoeater. Not necessarily for the opinions within his numerous reviews of taquerias, more because we just like his writing. He's got a funny, quirky style that, in our opinion, trenscends simple food reviews. He obviously enjoys doing it, but doesn't seem to take himself too seriously. And, hey, his ratings system is based on 10 mustaches. That's just funny, as are the use of terms like "burstage abatement," and his description of Papalote's burritos as "rendered with such mechanical consistency, some have wondered if there’s a mustachioed robot assembling them in an unseen corner of their tiny kitchen." We chatted briefly with Charles about his favorite food and another hobby of his, hiking....

Did you know that Chinese New Year is celebrated for 15 days? The last day, March 4, 2007, is the Lantern Festival. So, we're not too late in getting this crucial holiday food news to you: Your celebratory moon cakes could be a danger to your health. ...

In today's Chron, there's a big story about the events that occurred on New Year's Eve. To do so, they interviewed a whole bunch of witnesses (most of whom are anonymous) and put it together into a cohesive whole. And guess what? Everybody corroborates the story of the Baker's Dozen choral group. Everybody. Which makes you wonder why nobody's been charged yet or what's up with Ken Garcia and why is Heather Fong lying but that's neither here nor there right now....

Starting next Wednesday, we're wishing the Rickshaw Stop a very Happy 3rd Anniversary! In the last three years the venue has presented shows with everyone from Jonathan Richman to Silversun Pickups and has hosted all manner of wacky special events. Our favorite memory was an early show by Phosphorescent, and a pretty fun time on New Year's Eve in '05. They're celebrating their anniversary with a three day festival featuring a different style of......

Last week's winner, the Bay Guardian. What do Carter and Bush have in common? Problems with Schwarzenegger's health insurance plan. Someone missed the sarcasm in Tim Redmond's column about wifi. Steven T. Jones is working hard this week, covering not only Fake Question Time on the blog but also the trademark fight over Burning Man. Cover article: There's only six quail in the Presidio now, and they're all male. Is the Presidio like the Castro......

We don't know about you, but it's friggin cold out there. Well, not for some of you. It seems as though places that are supposed to be cold are warm and places that are supposed to be warm are cold. Or maybe that's just us. Either way, we're freezing. Austinist said goodbye to their co-editor (sell-out) and played rumor monger ">on the SXSW lineup. And when dozens of dead birds littered downtown Austin, it's......

SFist interviews Andrew Kerwin, guitarist of Trainwreck Riders...

As expected, the beating up of members of the Bakers Dozen acapella group is now a full blown story with all the breathless reporting and graphics that comes with it. It's even gone national with Drudge reporting that the singers were beaten up "after singing the Star Spangled Banner" as if we here in San Francisco are so anti-American that we'll beat anyone up who sings the National Anthem. ...

Two more murders in San Francisco on early Sunday morning, within 8 blocks and 40 minutes of each other: one at 13th and Folsom and another at 17th and Mission. By our count, that brings the murder total up to 5 for 2007 so far. In other Mission district crime news, there was a stabbing around 10 p.m. at the Burger King at 16th and Mission last night too. Would those proposed cameras at the......

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to....

-Oakland's New Year's Resolution? Less homicides. -The Governator has to miss parts of his own party due to his broken leg....

Our New Year's hangover (too much to drink, too much noise, too much fun) has just about abated, and catching a movie is about what we're up for tonight. At ATA (992 Valencia at 21st) there's Czech Dream (Ceský sen), a documentary about the largest consumer hoax the Czech Republic has ever seen. The filmmakers, Filip Remunda and Vit Klusak, set out to explore the psychological and manipulative powers of consumerism by creating an ad......

So we're reading this morning in the Chronicle about the "Frozen Bun Run" on Bethel Island in Contra Costa County, where fun-loving polar bears go water-skiing on the Sacramento River every New Year's Day. And here's the paragraphs that caught our eye: Take Josh Wolf. With the water at 47 degrees and the air outside at a comparatively balmy 49.2 degrees, Wolf decided he didn't need to wear his shorts while wakeboarding in front of......

Hey, we're back from vacation! And we just missed the 5-foot sinkhole that opened up on California Street between 6th and 7th Avenues for New Year's Eve. Does anyone have pictures? In our second item of news on the city's west side, CHP and the SFPD shut down the Golden Gate Bridge to pedestrians to thwart Code Pink's peace march across the span, to commemorate the 3000th U.S. casualty in Iraq. Code Pink didn't have......