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Announcing the Winners of the First Voice Media Group Music Writing Awards

Each week in our print editions and every day on our blogs, the 13 Voice Media Group papers feature some of the best music writing in the country. That's why we're excited to announce the winners of our first VMG music writing awards. The honor goes to the authors of one blog post and one print pi ... More >>

Bethel AME, S.F.'s Oldest Black Church, Won't Appoint Controversial Pastor John J. Hunter

The Rev. John J. Hunter arrived in San Francisco on Nov. 3; Bishop T. Larry Kirkland, of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, had appointed him to lead Bethel AME -- the city's oldest black church. After Hunter arrived at SFO, the Los Angeles Times reported, a driver took him downtown, where he ... More >>

The Innocence of Muslims Stars Amina Noir, Local Fetish Model

A second-rate porn flick has better production qualities than does The Innocence of Muslims, the semi-amateur anti-Islam film whose trailer has sparked anti-American protests across the Middle East. The New Yorker, which called the 13-minute synopsis/trailer a "viral video gone wrong," accurately no ... More >>

Marijuana Is Bad For Your Cajones, Researchers Say

And here we thought marijuana was supposed to make cancer patients feel a hell of a lot better. However, a new study claims the magic plant might actually have some unpleasant link to cancer. As our sister paper, LA Weekly, notes this morning SoCal researchers say that dudes who indulge in marijuana ... More >>

L.A. City Council Votes to Ban Marijuana Dispensaries

Council also considers a plan to keep more than 100 pot clubs open.Earlier, we tried to convince readers that San Francisco is way hipper than L.A. If you don't agree that daisy dukes and tummy tucks are just wrong, maybe you will agree this is: Los Angeles has officially banned pot clubs. According ... More >>

EDC 2012: House Music Beef With DJ Sneak Plays Out in Steve Angello's DJ Set

In early spring, a Twitter beef erupted between DJ Sneak, a Chicago house music legend, and Steve Angello, one-third of the DJ supergroup Swedish House Mafia. Sneak called SHM's music "fake shit" and said they "do not play house music" -- as in, real house music. On Friday, in front of a huge crow ... More >>

Bryan Stow Attack: Witnesses Can't ID Alleged Suspects

Witnesses in the Bryan Stow attack took the stand yesterday, giving jurors gruesome details of what they saw: Blood gushing from Stow's ears, and a loud echo when his head hit the pavement. But what they they didn't see was perhaps the most important: the attackers, according to our sister paper, LA ... More >>

Hey, Coachella Fans: Top Five Signs You're An Aging Hipster

By LILLEDESHAN BOSE Aging hipsters -- the very same people Coachella targeted when it began holding the music fest in Indio -- are usually easy to spot on the Empire Polo Fields. They're the ones who can't be bothered to walk over to Gobi and check out a new band because "It's too hot!" (or, in Fri ... More >>

The Worst Moments from SXSW 2012

The last few days, Village Voice Media's indefatigable music staff has been regaling you with stories of the best from SXSW 2012. In the midst of these discoveries, we've been culling another list: the worst shit. The acts that ranged from huge bore-fests to downright lame. Below, you'll find our cr ... More >>

There's a National Kerfuffle About Restaurant Stars, and Why I Don't Care

​If you hadn't heard, the LA Times, which recently hired Jonathan Gold away from our sister paper the LA Weekly, made the decision last week to drop assigning stars to restaurant reviews. "Star ratings are increasingly difficult to align with the reality of dining in Southern California," food edi ... More >>

Oakland's Camino Restaurant Hosts Mozza Cookbook Dinner

​Nancy Silverton's Los Angeles Italian restaurants -- Osteria Mozza and Pizzeria Mozza, co-owned by Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich -- have earned a cult-like following, which might inspire Silverton to stay guarded about their food's secrets. But instead, she's opening the restaurant's recipe ... More >>

Umami Burger is Coming! Umami Burger is Coming! But Is it Any Good?

​There is a wave of hysteria around the local arrival of Los Angeles-based chain Umami Burger. They've got tattooed buns, secret magic spices, and ridiculously long waits for the same dish that McDonald's is selling for $3 -- all things that typically make people go crazy for something.I believe t ... More >>

In Defense of V-Nasty and Her Nasty Mouth

Christopher VictorioV-Nasty at Slim's last week.​ It's the summer of the N-word controversy in the music world -- due mostly to the rise of Kreayshawn and the Oakland-repping White Girl Mob, whose V-Nasty says it and doesn't care what you think. (Or maybe she does -- some are saying she may st ... More >>

Seven Hot Looks for Restaurant Critics

Gael Greene. Hot.​ Earlier this week, Eater ran (or is it re-ran? I've seen this post before) a post listing hot looks for hot chefs. Faced with a magazine shoot? Hold a knife! Or a pig head! SFoodie knows all too well that restaurant critics could use some tough love from Tyra Banks on our public ... More >>

Jonathan Gold Offers Tipping Tips (Hint: 20 Percent)

​The LA Weekly's Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, Jonathan Gold, has come out with a list of 10 rules for tipping -- basically 10 reasons why diners need to stop pretending they're rewarding a waiter for the quality of his or her service and just tip a flat percentage. For instance: 2.Yes, I know yo ... More >>

2011 SF Street Food Festival Lineup Firms Up

Chris MacArthurThe 2010 Street Food Festival.​ Even though the 2011 SF Street Food Festival isn't taking place until Saturday, August 20, organizer Caleb Zigas says the lineup of vendors is "98 percent firm." This year, as SFoodie reported in April, the festival is significantly bigger -- there's ... More >>

LA Beats SF in Food Fight, Oakland Feeds Kids for Free This Summer

​Today's notes on national stories, local trends, random tastes, and other bycatch dredged up from the food media. 1. Oh, yeah? Sunset magazine has just posted a online feature that tries to ignite civil war between Los Angeles and San Francisco by challenging San Francisco's Josh Sens and LA Wee ... More >>

Giovanni Ramirez, Man Accused of Beating Bryan Stow, Wanted in Nevada Gang Shooting

Wanted in more than one state ​Los Angeles Police are not the only ones interested in Giovanni Ramirez, the 31-year-old suspect accused of beating Giants fan Bryan Stow in March. Police arrested Ramirez last week after an intense investigation, saying he was the prime aggressor in the March 31 bea ... More >>

Hear a New Smashing Pumpkins Song, "Owata," and Ponder Billy Corgan's Cheerful Oblivion

Kristin BurnsHe wants you to believe.​It wouldn't be a full-on '90s revival without an actual '90s band trying to get in on the party by releasing music looong after its prime. So who's making the most voluminous attempt? Naturally, it's the Smashing Pumpkins -- or, as we prefer to think of th ... More >>

Medical Marijuana Users: How Much Longer Until Your Boss Can't Fire You?

Does this mean you could be governor AND smoke pot?​Just like the industrious Walmart worker in Michigan, YOU, too, can get fired from your job for using medical marijuana -- even if you are employee of the month. Which clearly makes no sense, considering medical marijuana is legal. That's why Sen ... More >>

Insane Clowns Break Down Magnetic Juggalo Appeal for LA Weekly

Didn't we meet at the tuxedo rental place?​ Meanwhile, in one of the six or seven other places in the world that is not Tokyo or Austin, Gustavo Turner of our sister rag LA Weekly went to the "vast wasteland of poverty" that is Detroit to kick it with the Insane Clown Posse, who've been wearing ma ... More >>

Giants Fans to Fly Banner Over Dodgers Stadium

Not the world champions​A group of self-described diabolical Giants fans are plotting to fund a huge banner that will fly over the LA Dodgers stadium during the first three games of the Major Baseball League season, starting March 31. The group -- called the Faithful Supporters of the World Champi ... More >>

Kamala Harris Appears Set to Cinch Victory in Attorney General Race

Looking ahead to bigger things​Pardon us, gentle reader, for the intolerable hedge in the above headline. Lacking the statistical prowess of some other observers, we're still going to play it safe -- yet it appears that San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris is on the verge of victory in th ... More >>

Feds Seize Grow Equipment, Cash from Oakland Pot Factory

Pot growers, we welcome you -- and your seized assets​Backers of Proposition 19 say their legalize-and-tax-it approach to marijuana will raise money for the strapped California government. Recent comments by U.S. attorney general Eric Holder, along with an Oct. 8 federal forfeiture filing connecte ... More >>

What Happens When a Food Critic Isn't Exactly Anonymous?

ubrayj02/FlickrLA Weekly critic Jonathan Gold, captured at Flying Pigeon in L.A.​Our favorite morsel from the blogs. The top editor at Chow had a moment of ethical self-doubt last week. Jane Goldman showed up for Plow's first weekday breakfast, liked the frittata and lemon-ricotta pancakes, a ... More >>

Steve Cooley's Potential Finance Scandal Ignites Kamala Harris Press Storm

Steve Cooley is accused of taking funny money from not-so-funny people​San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris has wasted no time jumping on a report by our sister paper, LA Weekly, accusing her opponent in the state Attorney General's race of hypocrisy. The article, which ran yesterday, not ... More >>

Why Can't S.F. Ban 'Formula Restaurants'?

David D./YelpSubway franchise on Main at Howard in SOMA.​Our favorite morsels from the Web. Thanks to SFoodie's blog sib Noah Galuten of LA Weekly's Squid Ink for directing our browser to USA TODAY, which today records a backlash against efforts by a craggy, scenic town in Utah to keep chain ... More >>

T.G.I. Frisco: San Francisco's Dearth of Chain Restaurants

Kevin Y./YelpOkay, so we do have an Olive Garden out near S.F. State.​Our favorite morsel from the blogs. Yesterday at LA Weekly's Squid Ink, SFoodie's sister food blog with the WTF name, editor Amy Scattergood passed along a list from Nation's Restaurant News of America's 15 favorite casual- ... More >>

All the Way to the Banksy

Sunset's Best Burritos Guide Disses S.F.'s Finest

John BirdsallPure Gold?: Regular carnitas burrito (with guac) from La Taqueria.​Our favorite morsel from the blogs. The burrito wars come home: At Sunset.com, Jan Newberry peels back the foil on what she reckons to be the West's best burritos. Like a plastic fork probing a Papalote Triple Thr ... More >>

Sex, Seduction and Darkness at the 10th Annual Edwardian Ball

View more pics in Edwardian Ball Part One and Edwardian Ball Part Two.The 10th Annual Edwardian Ball this past Saturday was the seductive fashion intersection of Edward Gorey, Tim Burton, and Dr. Seuss. Throw in a little Steampunk style in there and what you have is a glorified underground prom wher ... More >>

Court Ruling Can't Save L.A. Pot Dispensaries

Win some, lose some​A victory for medical marijuana here, a defeat there. While the California Supreme Court this morning struck down limits on the amount of medical marijuana a licensed user can posses or cultivate, it seems Los Angeles users will soon have a smaller selection of places to&n ... More >>

New Yorker Food Issue Probes the Mystery of the Michelin Inspector

From Dana Goodyear's fist-bump with Pulitzer Prize-winning LA Weekly food critic Jonathan Gold, to Calvin Trillin's poutine exposé, this year's New Yorker food issue contains scrumptious reads, but Lunch with M, John Colapinto's chronicle of lunch at Jean Georges with a Michelin inspector, is one w ... More >>

Doggy Bag: Today's Odds and Ends

Our favorite morsels from the food blogs and beyond. Riding is thirsty work: You know how it is: Sometimes you gotta pop a cold one just to get the smell of those greasy blue seats out of your nose. Read the blog Beer by BART and you can be tickling your nostrils with IPA foam within minutes of lea ... More >>

The Doggie Bag: Today's Odds and Ends

Our favorite morsels from the food blogs. Gratuitous cruelty alert: Unless you relish the sight of a sharp wooden implement piercing an animal's heart, and that same implement piercing a fellow animal's freakishly swollen liver, do NOT peek at the Beer & Nosh pic of foie gras and duck heart on a st ... More >>

The Doggie Bag

Our favorite food blog posts of the day: Staying regular: How about a long, cool drink of dietary fiber? Nothing like getting hammered and scrubbing your colon. Cheers to The Ethicurean for showing us how. Commander-in-chickpea: Ever wonder what Obama and Hilary Clinton would look like sculpted en ... More >>

Hitsville: The Year in Music, by the Numbers

By Randall Roberts You don't need a half-wit music critic to tell you it's been a remarkable year for America, one historians will be discussing and researching for centuries to come. War, financial collapse, politics, technology: All have been dinner-table topics for many Americans. Racial barrier ... More >>

Santacon 2008, Ski Team: The Party, The Cure, Skot Olsen and Too $hort: Your Monday Morning Hangover

Weekend wrap-up by Janine KahnSunday was nasty and rainy, but that didn't keep photographer Jen Cash home in Walnut Creek. Click here for her photo set from 111 Minna, which had been converted into a retro winter wonderland with snow on the floor and attendees in 80's neon ski garb for "Ski Team: Th ... More >>

Weezer Invites SF to a "Hootenanny" of a Jam Session

SF Weekly Staffers Take Home Awards

Las Vegas Vegoose Festival Coverage: Daft Punk, Iggy and More

Judd Apatow, Johnny Rotten and Timberlake: It's VVM ChainSmoking

ASD hopes Rock the Bells Brings the Noise

Unfair Lawsuit Act

SF Weekly moves to dismiss the Guardian's lawsuit, which is light on witnesses and evidence

Unfair Lawsuit Act

SF Weekly moves to dismiss the Guardian's lawsuit, which is light on witnesses and evidence

You hate us. You really, really like us. -- The Nation's confused take on Village Voice Media

Dirty Pretty Things

Midnight Movies gets eerie

Hear This

Azalia Snail spins forth surreal folk-pop

Letters