--Our city rules. [Examiner.] --Today's Matt Gonzalez Mayoral Candidate Magic Eight-Ball reading: Maybe yes. [Left in SF.] --The Punk Rock Sideshow at the Hemlock is hosting a benefit concert next Monday (July 16th) for Roisin Isner, the girl hit by the firecracker on July 4th. It'll feature a lot of all-girl bands. We're wishing you the best, Roisin! [Hemlock Tavern, via All Shook Down] --Do you play the piano? Paul Hogarth wants to talk......

OMFG there totally just a street fair in the Haight! Did you know it was coming? Muni apparently did not, as the bus arrangement were decidedly last-minute. (Either that, or Muni simply didn't care/wasn't capable of doing any better ... but that couldn't be the case, could it?) Check out the above video of the 33, taken in the evening when things were winding down. A couple things of note: - Those buses sure......

May's Asian-American Heritage Month, so of course there's an accompanying street fair to emphasize the fun! Stop by Howard Street between 5th and 7th any time between 11 a.m. and 6 for food, music, community awareness booths, and fun across all the Asian ethnic groups. Other events: --SF Women Against Rape present the documentary "NO!" at the Women's Building. 5-7:30 p.m., $5-$15 sliding scale, Audre Lorde Room, 3542 18th St. (x Valencia). --Bohemian Carnival --......

Looks like the Haight Street Fair is going to be a booze-free event as negotiations to try and reach some sort of happy medium between fair organizers and whiny neighbors didn't pan out. ...

Celebrate Ben Franklin's 300th birthday with the Bikini Bandits and Phillyist! (NSFW). Speaking of Mr. Franklin, send in a picture of Ben (or Ed Rendell) with a red tongue and win a free t-shirt. And they might have the next YearlyKos in Philly. You know who's going to be upset about those Bikini Bandits? The Houston school system. Houstonist also reports on some redevelopment shenanigans over a landmark theater. LAist's sex advice column on......

With the sun finally appearing, it's time to think about our favorite springtime city activities. Like street fairs. Our favorite street fair? The North Beach Festival. Nothing we love more than hanging out in Washington Square Park, downing some brews, then drunkenly stumbling into the maelstrom for more food, booze, and White Boy Blues. Man, what fun. Oh wait, there's going to be no booze allowed this year? Nevermind. ...

Boy, have we got some bad Cow Hollow ideas for you! Have you guys been following the whole "turning Fillmore Street into a ski slope" thing? So Icer Event Management has decided to shave enough ice (12,000 cubic feet of it) on Aug 27 to turn Fillmore Street from Broadway to Green Street (and Vallejo from Steiner and Webster) into ski jumps. (A 14 foot lane will be left open for emergency vehicles and for people who live there to get home.) This is all for Jonny Mosely's 30th birthday, and to film footage for a video game. Hilarious! But wait -- it gets even better! Wait until you hear how everyone's reacting! There's a Hindu temple on that stretch of Fillmore -- and right outside their meditation room, the event planners are setting up the apres-ski lounge, sponsored by Otis. What's more: the monks don't drink. The Pac Heights neighborhood association isn't very happy either, especially because the weekend right after the skiing one, the Grand Prix is coming into town next. "People are incredibly disrespectful of private property at these events. It's a real intrusion. We view this in the same class as street fairs," fumes the neighborhood associate president. (Aw, come on, everyone loves a street fair!) They've tried protesting to (hottest supervisor") Michela Alioto-Pier, but she's told them there's nothing she can do, because the ski people have already gotten all the necessary permits. The ski people are slightly confused by the reaction. "We really, really do not want to upset the neighborhood," the organizer told the Chron. "This thing is going to be done well and in a first-class way." And -- here's our absolute favorite part -- "We want to show San Francisco as an exciting place to visit, as opposed to a place with a lot of homeless." What goes on up there North of Market??? ...

Well, if you're at all gay (and we all are, at least a little, according to that big queen Kinsey) then you have absolutely no excuse to be bored this weekend. SFist urges you to go forth and make out with strangers! And remember, don't forget to think about the children, by which, of course, we mean to let them revel in God's creation of rainbow hotpants and house music, too! But first, while......

If you aren't checking out Frameline, seeing some music (Stern Grove on Sunday!) or peeing your pants at the Purple Onion, how about... Tonight, SF Homegirl Margaret Cho (who our sources say has been using some of the same material since high school) performs two shows tonight at Davies Symphony Hall as part of her Assasin tour. Tickets start at a whopping $25. But hey, support a blogger, will ya? Tomorrow at 11:30, revellers......

Thanks to Friend of SFist Min Jung Kim (who wrote an awesome essay on blogging recently), we had ringside seats for the Carnaval Parade. We gorged ourselves on photographs, and even busted out the cellphone to record some of the great bands. There were representatives from, oh, five or six continents on hand, all tied together by a spirit of celebration. The nearly nude (and in one case completely nude save for some creative......

Hey photobloggers! Since you're bringing the digital camera downtown on Saturday anyways, don't forget to stop by and get some shots of the Chinese New Year Parade too! The parade starts at 5:30 at Second and Market, rain or shine, and goes until about 8. Lots of cute kids dressed up as emperors, dancing lions, the Centipede-like multi-man 201-foot dragon, and Miss Chinatown 2005 -- plenty of good material for your flickr account! They recommend getting to Chinatown no later than 5, but you can check out the street fair if you're there early. And just a friendly plug: we here at SFist love to show your work -- thanks again to Lackadaisical for the great shots of the Chinese Moon Festival he let us use last year -- so we welcome any and all pictures you want to send from your day! ...