"Six Feet of Sunshine" won the gold! On internet streaming video, you can enjoy last night's gold medal victory wherein two outrageously fine California blonds defeated two outrageously fine Asian brunettes, each of the ladies all sweaty and wearing no more than, like, six square inches of clothing. Seriously, you should watch that. Hell, we were straight-up masturbating to it!

It was the olmypic championship for Women's Beach Volleyball, the most blatantly sexualized olympic sport. Saratoga native Kerri Walsh and partner Misty May-Treanor extended their winning "streak" to 108 games with the victory. The duo has capably topped all of it's opponents since their last defeat to the also quite desirable and also quite local Nicole Branagh(with Elanie Youngs). Kerri has played with her partner Misty (heh heh...) for eight consecutive years, and we hope their winning chemistry continues.

Image: USA's Kerri Walsh celebrates a point in the first set against China at the Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground for their finals match for the for the XXIX Olympics in Beijing, China on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Mercury News, Nhat V. Meyer)

Some images of today's torch relay/protest/insanity/Newsomness as the torch run turned into, well, complete chaos. Whew, what a day.

Brian Brooks, Jessica Kraft, and Chase Tingley: thanks for the sharp shots today of the Olympic torch melee.

Earlier

• Also, still no sign of torch. SFPD motorcycles are seen zipping up Third and Second Streets.
• "No reports of serious violence," declares Barbara Rodgers of CBS 5.
• Eerie sensation of local on-air talent far too close to SFist HQ right now. There is a presence in this neighborhood.
• British PM Gordon Brown boycotts opening ceremonies; Bush still debating similar boycott.
• Barbara Rogers calls bullshit on current torch run path on King Street. Wonders if it might be happening somewhere else. That would be awesome.
• Visible torch flame seen at McCovey Cove!

Ta-da. Now it's really on, folks.

The calm before the storm: McCovey Cove (just outside AT&T Park) awash in red flags, taken late this morning.

Although, according to fine Mayor Gavin Newsom, the torch route change at a moment's notice, the path is currently starting at AT&T Park (where confrontations are reportedly already taking place), running along the Embarcadero Park (where confrontations are reportedly already taking place), and ending at Justin Herman Plaza (where confrontations are reportedly already taking place). If you get any shots of the flame or hot-headed behavior, be sure to tag them with "sfist" in your Flickr stream for everyone to see.

Drivers, you will want to avoid SOMA and the Embarcadero at all costs today. Seriosuly. King Street, according to ABC 7, will be closed until 7 p.m. tonight, By the way.

Also, politics aside, how gorgeous is the Beijing Olympic torch? Stunning, really.

Before today's Olympic torch run, check out some images from yesterday's
Tibet Rally and Peace March, brilliantly shot by local photogs 37 °C, Jim Herd, Steve Rhodes, and Dave Schumaker.

Today's Olympic torch relay, set to start just outside AT&T Park at 1 p.m., will result in MUNI delays. Here are the lines that will be affected today. Or not.

Lines: F, K/T, N, 9X, 10, 12, 19, 20, 30, 39, 47, 49, all Cable Cars Area: Downtown, SOMA, The Embarcadero Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2008 Time: noon until clear

Of course, as most of you already know, this is not set in stone: both the relay route itself and all Muni service re-routes are subject to change at any time.

In our continuing Beijing Olympic-boycotting coverage, Dave Eggers--the scribe ever well-educated San Franciscan loves to hate (because he's successful at what he does)--wrote a piece in this Sunday's about the Olympic Torch's run in San Francisco. He claims that the protests that will occur during the run will be a strong statement, especially since it's the torch's only run in Northern America and its an election year. China’s "complicity in the genocide in Darfur" and the Sudan are the focus of his article. Let's dive in, shall we?

My friend Valentino Achak Deng, a refugee from Sudan, just got back from southern Sudan last week where he was beginning construction on an educational complex in his hometown. He reports that along the southern border, there have been weekly clashes between the Sudanese Army and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, a rebel group that fought a long and protracted war with the government in the 1980s and ’90s.

Hundreds have been killed, and a good portion of the residents of the south fear there will again be war. If this happens, it could make the conflict in Darfur look like a skirmish.

A small protest was held at City Hall yesterday by 400-plus pissed off Tibetan immigrants, honoring the 49th anniversary of Tibet's uprising against China, but also San Francisco's hosting of the Olympic torch. Just a preface of what will happen in the city next month, San Francisco will be the focus of a major protest since it's the only US city hosting the Olympic torch relay in the 2008 Beijing games.

According to CBS 5, the decent-sized group held banners on the steps of City Hall reading "Olympics in China, Torture in Tibet," and "Truth is our only weapon." Over at sftorch2008.org, it notes that a larger rally will be planned for April 9 when the torch finally makes its way here.

The Chinese government is running the Olympic torch around the world, hoping to win the approval of the global public and cover up its brutal occupation of Tibet and abysmal human rights record. When the torch relay reaches San Francisco on April 9th, China will be in the global spotlight like never before. We have an unprecedented opportunity to shine this spotlight on Tibet.

China's occupation of Tibet is a hearted issue -- even though China has maintained that it has "ruled Tibet for centuries" -- especially here in the Bay Area and on you more liberal college campuses. Next month's protest during the torch's arrival is expected to draw thousands.