A new report released by the city's Controller's Office demonstrates just how ineffective San Francisco's sit/lie ordinance is, with the bulk of last year's citations going to the same 19 repeat offenders, according to the report. More >>

Maybe he should have consulted this before he ran for mayor

Have you ever wondered exactly how our government leaders make some of their decisions? We assume many city decisions are made through backroom deals and a lot of backstabbing.

And then there's Supervisor John Avalos' refreshing governing style.

We were shocked, entertained, and strangely pleased to read the news today that our very own Avalos consulted not just his staff but an Ouija board before voting on whether San Francisco should name a Navy ship after slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk. Just for context, the last time we used an Oujia board was at a slumber party in third grade.

But the progressive supervisor known for his retro-fabulous interests (he loves his '80s vinyl) tells the Chron that he and his staff talked with Harvey Milk's spirit, and got his political guidance on that very important vote.

We actually put our hands on the Ouija board and the letters g-o-o-d-r-i-d-d-a-n-c-e-d-a-d-t came out. We asked Harvey, and Harvey gave us these letters: "good riddance don't ask, don't tell." It was quite clear that Harvey Milk would have been opposed to Don't Ask, Don't Tell. I can honestly say that's one aspect of this resolution that's really valid.

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You are supposed to sit on the toilet, not shit on it.

This year's Bay to Breakers will look -- and feel -- a bit different than what you've come to know in year's past. For starters, there will be no floats allowed and no "wheeled objects" permitted -- that includes moms (or dads) with strollers and bicycles.

And remember the roving tiki bar in 2005? Or that giant duck float from 2010? Gone.

Last year, race operators released a slew of new rules restricting the only-in-San Francisco traditions that have shaped the bizarreness of B2B since its inception. Much of that fun was alcohol-induced, but now race participants have to leave their booze at home. And no dog or headphones, either, because you know what they say: If you act like children, you will be treated like children.More >>

So many unconventional and borderline freakish things are born right here in San Francisco. Take the tinfoil chapeaux, for instance. And if that's not weird enough for you, there's always the How Weird Street Faire, which incidentally is scheduled this weekend.

Among our many much-appreciated eccentricities is Steven Backman, a local toothpick artist best known for his insanely cool replica of the Golden Gate Bridge. Recently, to celebrate the Bridge's 75th anniversary, Backman showed off his miniature sculpture of the Bay Area's most visited icon, which he made out of 30,000 toothpicks.

Have a gander:

www.toothpickart.com

The 13-foot-wide sculpture took Backman two and a half years to complete, using no cables or wires. All of this is why Sen. Dianne Feinstein has given Backman a certificate honoring him for his "much heralded toothpick replica of the Golden Gate Bridge."

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Courtesy of SFist

​If the airlines are deficient at anything, it's making the skies friendlier -- or friendly at all. But in its never-ending quest to be cute, Virgin America Airlines has made another attempt to show us just how much personality the Silicon Valley-based company has.  

SFist snapped  this cool photo of the new Airbus A320 with its spirited Giants logo and SF-emblazoned jet engines. And in true San Francisco fashion, the plane features Brian Wilson's beloved beard on the front end of the plane (no spandex tuxedo to match?)

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Bernalwood

Remembering a neighborhood fixture.

​For all the complaints about the homeless in the city, we can admit this: The vagrants who frequent our neighborhoods are often familiar fixtures we've come to appreciate. Since the lives of homeless folks are so exposed, knowing them and sharing stories about has become part of the collective experience of living in San Francisco. More >>

Everyone is doing whatever they can to try to save the landmark Gold Dust Lounge, which has been booted from its Union Square home after serving nightcaps to locals and tourists since 1933. The final pour: March 6, 2012.

But while petitions to save the bar are being circulated, and lawyers are crafting their arguments to preserve the bar, some local artists are finding their own clever ways to keep this sad story alive. Catherine Hill, a 29-year-old songwriter who wishes it were 1960 again, wrote this folksy ballad, detailing bar's hapless plight.

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Gold Dust Lounge has no plans to stop pouring to patrons

​Last night, well-known damage control-specialist Sam Singer took the mic at the Gold Dust Lounge where he bluntly delivered unwelcoming news: The bar's last pour would come March 6.

Singer, who is representing the landlord of the bar, was booed heavily by patrons who are working hard to preserve the landmark watering hole, which received its eviction notice earlier this month.

But today, the owners of the popular bar came back with some news for Singer: They plan to sue their landlord, John Handlery, over the unwelcome eviction.

"We've been saying all along that if he can't sit down at the table, the next thing to happen is some legal action," Lee Houskeeper, spokesman for the bar, tells us. "Apparently, his answer to this was sending Sam Singer -- not what we had in mind."
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Dear Bank of America ...

​What some healthy and spry Occupy Movements across the nation couldn't quite accomplish, San Francisco geriatrics have!

KCBS reports that a small group of senior citizens between the ages of 69 and 82 successfully shut down a Bank of America in Bernal Heights on Thursday with nothing more than walkers and oxygen tanks. That's right: No shouting, chanting, tear gas, or window-smashing.

The group, which dubbed itself "Wild Old Women" set up camp right outside the BofA, holding signs in what they were calling "a run on the bank."

While the protesters said they had no intention (or oxygen) of storming the bank, as occupiers in other communities have done, officials at Bank of America shut the doors and locked them as they spotted the slow-moving group make its way to the front of the bank.
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Scary mask

​Say what you want about Code Pink -- we can always count on its members to keep it real and, well, colorful. Remember when the activist group glitter-bombed former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty as he signed books in San Francisco?

And because they never miss an opportunity to show their sheer disdain for the Tea Party-types, members are calling on local authorities to arrest former Vice President Dick Cheney as he arrives in San Francisco today to speak at a private Asian conference at the Palace Hotel.

Naturally, the group has organized an "Arrest Cheney"  presence outside the hotel equip with provocative banners, flyers, and, yes, there will be people dressed in black-and-white jail "outfits," wearing Cheney masks.
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