Yesterday we mentioned the delightful work trip/vacation San Francisco supervisor Bevan Dufty and city treasurer Jose Cisneros took to Australia for Sydney's Gay Mardi Gras. Trannyshack founder Heklina was there, too. And many readers fretted about whether or not city tax dollars went to pay for this trip down under -- an excursion, it should be mentioned, that will reportedly bring in much-needed tourist dollars to SF. Anyway, according to Dufty's office: No San......

Today we're not going to be talking about just any BART. We're going to be talking about your BART. Well, technically, it's myBART; and we're astonished to report that it's actually a rather good idea. Here's how the website describes itself: myBART sends out a free weekly email full of entertainment news, ticket giveaways and big discounts to events happening close to BART stations. Holy crap. A transit agency ... that actually provides you......

Dear AlertSF, Why do you yell at us? You've done this to us five times today already, and we still don't understand you with the greatest clarity. To wit: The National Weather Service reports/updated a Winter Storm Watch for the San Francisco area. ...SNOW ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM PST THURSDAY FOR THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS... ...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON FOR THE TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS.........

We love Gridskipper's edge as of late. Take, for example, today's revealing top 8 San Francisco bars with the "crappiest crowds." Rankings 8, 7, 6, and 5 are Beauty Bar, Medjool, Swig, and R Bar, respectively. In all fairness, you need to visit good ol' Gridie to find out just who made the top four. (Also, regarding the number-one spot, we've never visited the sorta chic spot but have heard mixed reviews. Is it......

Although the T-Mobile store on Third and Market streets failed to make the list -- they're (allegedly) rampant fibbers over there, people! -- be sure to read Gridskipper's spot-on and delightful San Francisco Bad Service Board Game. They map out the top six as follows: 6. 24th Street Cheese Company ("woman behind the counter is the fucking cheese nazi") 5. Radio Shack on 16th and Potrero (In a city full of tech geeks, we......

This past Thursday while we were en route from Denver to SFO, we were thoroughly enjoying the in-flight movie when screams suddenly broke out from the rear kitchen. Since we happened to be sitting in the very last row of the plane, we were especially caught off guard by the commotion and were forced to break focus from No Reservations (which was actually quite charming) to see what was going on. Not three feet from......

Update: We just asked Heklina if it's true. "Yes, honey!" she replied. "Sometime in spring or early summer [of '08]." So...there you have it. Similar to the club night in question here, this is shocking. On Heklina's MySpace page, she tells us that she plans on shutting down Trannyshack -- San Francisco's longest-running (alternative-y) drag show, etcetera -- soon. Very soon. Heklina says, "I need to feel challenged and no longer feel I have......

-- Why, it's our very own SFist Rita kicking it in the comfy confines (and breaking down the latest season of Project Runway) over at SFGate. Awesome. [Culture Blog] -- Japantown's J-Pop Center, well, pops. [Curbed SF] -- And look! It's your editor interviewed by SF Weekly. We don't come off as mildly-retarded as we did during the interview. Woo hoo! [The Snitch] -- Which '80s night is the best night? [Gridskipper] -- Yoshi's......

-- And then Nancy was all, "Like, what the hell, you guys?" [SF Examiner] -- The Central Subway Project. [Transbay Blog] -- Now you don't have to leave your bedroom to travel. Ever again. Yay! [The Tech Chronicles] -- The seven rules for talking (and not screaming self-righteously) about gentrification. [Neighbors Project] -- Behold: SF Weekly's new food blog. [SFoodie] -- A censure-free DiFi. [SFBG] -- After it was revealed that he was, and......

Last week Numb3ers -- that Tiffany network show starring the reportedly-difficult-to-work-with Rob Morrow -- featured an Alternate-Reality Game (ARG) as a plot device. It turns out that this was an actual launch for an ARG, Chainfactor. The idea is this: a players find codes on l'Internets as well as in real world locales. Take, for example, the tip we got that a hidden code is hidden at one of the billboards or advertisements on......

-- Awesomeness: GG Park road to close on Saturdays! Yay! Mind the bison! [Examiner] -- Narcs! Mandated by federal law, the Coast Guard failed to drug test the Cosco Busan crew within 32 hours. [SFGate] -- Still need your crab fix? Try this handy map. [Gridskipper] -- Ka-blamo! Bomb scare temporarily halts eBay. [ValleyWag] -- Saving rent control. [Beyond Chron] -- Ship's radar, it now seems, was working juuust fine. [Oakland Tribune]......

-- Clean up to take weeks. (But probably longer, we're betting.) [SFGate] -- Ship pilot called into questioning. [Examiner] -- Behold: your new Spock. [ONTD] -- Look what's now inside Precita Eyes. Something you cannot afford whatsoever.[Curbed SF] -- November film festivals on the map. [Gridskipper] -- Dumb teenager arrested in connection with shooting death inside the Metreon. [CBS5] -- Fog City Notes rides....the 38. Shudder. [FCN]......

-- Chicken John hosts the Loser's Ball. Which a lot progressives did. Lose, that is. [Politics Blog] -- Although Prop A might pass due to prog efforts. (See where horizontal pastels get you, Mr. Fisher?) [BeyondChron] -- Washington Packing Corporation's abandoned, graffitied tuna cannery. [WhatImSeeing] -- Bay Bridge fender bender spills "mysterious" oil into the Bay. [Oakland Tribune] -- Henry K. Lee live-blogs, as they say, on the Hans Reiser murder trial! [SFGate] --......

-- The WGA strike suuuuuucks. As does a fall season full of reruns. [The Bastard Machine, The Snitch] -- Vote tomorrow. Or whatever. [SFGate] -- No Googlephone? Then, what's the point of living? [ValleyWag] -- GOP Presidential candidate Romney Mailer is a ginormous GOP tool. [SFGate] -- Missing teen found with blue square at Fisherman's Wharf. Ew. [Examiner] -- Wisconsin-based chain store Batteries Plus banned. (Who knew there was a chain store devoted to......

-- Barry Bonds: your San Francisco diva. [SFGate] -- Halloween in SF was a "a dead zone" [Examiner, SFGate] -- 19th Avenue -- now less deadly. [SFist] -- SF hotel bars. Which one is your favorite? (Hint: St. Regis) [Gridskipper] -- Ban rent control? [BeyondChon] -- Doc 420, the medical marijuana doctor. [ABC7] -- Awesome: the "SWL 337" Planning Challenge. [Curbed SF] -- Eeeeeeeeee! Can you feel it in the air? Hannah Montana has......

Photos from the annual soap box derby...

Photo of the long long line of people standing around waiting to get their passports. Still...

We caught Phil Setzer, the violinist for the Emerson String Quartet, being driven down between performances in Santa Barbara and Orange County. We hope it was in a stretch limo, as these guys have won eight Grammy awards and critical acclaim everywhere they go. They are the only chamber music group to ever win a best classical album grammy, and they even got two. So they better travel like the rock stars they are. They'll......

Among San Francisco’s myriad neighborhoods, few are as widely misunderstood as the Outer Sunset. Location certainly plays a role. To your average Upper Haight resident – to say nothing of your average South of Market or North Beach resident – this beach-adjacent community may seem as distant as Honolulu, with an N-Judah trip that may rival a flight to Oahu in terms of travel time. But it’s sometimes easy to forget that San Francisco is a mere seven miles wide, and that the folks out west do have phone numbers that begin with 415, rather than 808....

Put on your party hats, folks. SF won yet another No. 1 spot to come-look-at-and-eat-interesting-stuff. This time the honor arrives care of Conde Nast Traveller magazine's annual Readers' Choice Awards. Yay. Sure, the only-in-SF tourism industry is an important part of our economy, or whatever. And not that we're complaining -- we have won the top spot for 17 of the past 18 years -- but these types of accolades make us feel that......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on SFist. NY Times Home Delivery, with 50% off home delivery. Cazadores, the one with the deer head. Truly CA, stories about California on KQED. World War Z, perfect as Halloween is coming up. SF Dish, where AMEX cardmembers can dish about restaurants. Interpol, tomorrow at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Wristcutters, opening next month. Stylized Sculpture, at the Asian Art Museum. Travelzoo,......

Anyone else out there enjoying the lightning storm currently underway south of the city? When was the last time we were privy to such a spectacle? Expect more cleansing rain tomorrow. Ahhhh.......

First la Timberlake, now this: the White Stripes have just canceled their tour, which was supposed to roll through here on 9/21. It seems: "The White Stripes announced today that they are canceling their forthcoming tour due to health issues. Meg White is suffering from acute anxiety and is unable to travel at this time. The White Stripes sincerely apologize to their fans. `We hate to let people down and are very sorry.'" You......

For the two or three of you out there who might be driving through the Sunnyside this afternoon/evening, be sure to avoid the intersection of Congo and Mangels. It looks like this truck is going to be there for a while. Oops. This sort of reminds us of the beached limo incident in Potrero Hill, circa July 2007. UPDATE: The intersection is now clear. Phew.......

We had a good time going through the recipes and eating stories in Street Food, the new book by wunderkind Tom Kine - that is, when we got over the insane jealousy. He got a book contract to travel for three months and eat all he could! How do we get something like that? We're excited to try his takes on bolani (Afghan flat bread) and Kadu (roast pumpkin paste), which he got from......

Okay, so when we first saw this store open on our beloved 4th Street in Berkeley, we were horrified. Judging a book entirely by its cover, we wouldn't even go near the place. Napa Style. Seriously? Like, can't we just drive to Napa and buy stuff? We need it packaged, sorted, and Disneyfied for us? This had to be a tourist trap. We, even when we travel, never ever consider ourselves a tourist. Sniff.......

We found Thomas Swick's traveling-abroad tips in this Sunday's Chronicle both cute and informative. But since we're stricken with a crippling fear of any existence east of (the) 5, we were left starving for a few answers as to why. Such as: -- In Japan, don't blow your nose. -- In Spain, don't pick up your paper napkin if you drop it at the bar. -- In Vatican City, don't correct the pope. (Impossible.)......

-- SF Macarons versus Macaroons. [Gridskipper] -- East Bay movie studio/shopping center deal? Fin. [Chron] -- #70: Early morning Hunters Point murder. [SF Crime] -- Lawsuit over AT&T Wireless' ability to suck. [Examiner] -- OMG: High School Musical 2 premieres tonight! (It seems Zac Efron's a huge Giants fan. And probably a Castro Street fan, too. What?) [Chron] -- Sierra Nevada Brewing Company executive's body found in Sacto River. [Chron] -- Patti Smith singing......

So, we just got word today that our passport application has been approved and that our new passport is (allegedly) in the mail. We’ve been sitting here sweating bullets for the past two weeks wondering when or if we were ever going to receive our passport. You hear so many horror stories these days about screwed up travel plans and missed trips because of the severe delay in passport processing. We practically have to......

Who doesn't love a weekend jaunt to Carmel? Well, those of us who can afford it, anyway. What's more, those of us who can tolerate its cloying horror. John Vlahides, co-founder and executive editor at 71 Miles, knows better. 71 Miles -- an extraordinarily useful local travel site (at last!) for those of us living in the Bay Area (i.e., not tourists) who want to know more about hitting up the greater Bay Area,......