Lonely Planet is once again poking the bear of bi-coastal rivalry for the purposes of a poll. The travel guide gurus initially courted controversy in January by starting an SF vs NYC match up, and while SFist noted that "comparing San Francisco to New York City is like comparing chocolate to peanut butter (or something like that)," the silliness of the battle didn't stop the city from clicking, commenting and competing bravely. Verdict: NYC had their tushies handed to them on a cable car. more ›

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Unlike the rather tired and off-handed assessment of the LA food scene that the SF Chronicle tossed off about six months back, the New York Times has been showing how it's done: their recent piece on "36 Hours in Hollywood" and last week's survey of Sunset Junction. Okay, yes, some of their picks are probably geared to the curious tourist rather than the traveler interested in a more gritty L.A. experience -- Teddy's nightclub is one of their spots to hit up (although you do get to see L.A. teenage wildlife in its natural habitat). more ›

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2006 Performance of Unsilent Night in SF more ›

Mi Ami (ex-members of Black Eyes from SF) and Bipolar Bear. Since we love classical minimalism, we thought to ask the band a few questions before tonight's show: more ›

A piece written while inebriating oneself with absinthe. Read on as Elise test-tastes these fabulous absinthes...with interesting results! more ›

We heart our sister -Ists: today, SFist Editor Bock Keeling was profiled in the SF Weekly. We find out that Gus Van Sant hates SFist and a funny picture of a woman modeling in front of an oil spill crew is now being featured on the site. Pro football player Sean Taylor has died from injuries sustained in a mysterious and tragic shooting incident; he was 24 years old. Police are still searching for... more ›

Listen to the interview here: Bobby Slayton is an icon, he's been doing stand-up for 30 years, everyone in the industry knows him, and generations of us have grown up on his comedy. At his live show the crowd gets warmed up with a video of practically every single well-known American comic, from Don Rickles to Robin Williams, giving props to Bobby. I've been listening and seeing Bobby Slayton perform for 25 years, listening to... more ›

The other shoe has dropped in the Barry Bonds steroid scandal as today federal prosecutors formerly accused the former Giant of obstructing justice and lying under oath. "I'm surprised," John Burris, one of Bonds' attorneys, told the AP, "but there's been an effort to get Barry for a long time. "I'm curious what evidence they have now they didn't have before." Even the president of the United States chimed in - thru a proxy.... more ›

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As it gets closer to Halloween for LAist, a contributer recollects her tale of staring down the serial killer, Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. Must think happy thoughts -- okay, free organic chocolate chip cookies for Los Angeles -- now that's a happy thought. Other happy Los Angeles thoughts include an interview with Jack Kehler of The Big Lebowski (he was the Dude's landlord), a beautiful and magical photographic moment in Venice and the press making the speaker of the California State Assembly, Fabian Núñez, run away when being asked hard questions about sketchy luxurious and worldly expenses. more ›

You're never alone when you've got your cell phone. And now, you'll never be stranded. Metro today launched a new Web site, optimized for mobile phones and PDAs. The service offers a relatively easy-to-use trip planner as well as an LA Country traffic map, although the large map image is difficult to read on smaller phone screens. The site works on 90 percent of current hand-held devices, Metro claims, so we trust the early kinks... more ›

LAist began the month with a new food series exploring the popular and unknown late night eats around town. If a Top Chef winner opened up a late night spot in Los Angeles, denizens would flock it, yet the LA Times and other media might be wary. Turning to sports, the Dodger season was quite memorable in the way that it imploded and the LA County Sheriff's Department made some games of their own... more ›

This week, Phillyist saw the waters of a landmark fountain run red for a Showtime marketing stunt, the Phils pull ahead, and some serious nostalgia. They also got a chance to review an awesome tribute album, reminded folks to see the King, and appreciated their beautiful skyline. more ›

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. more ›

In a couple of weeks I will be joining 40,000 artists, misfits, deviants, hippies, vampires, musicians, furries, and nudists to participate in the 21st Burning Man Festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. So if you happen to be strolling through Venice Beach during the week of Aug. 27- Sept. 3 and wonder where all the freaks are at don’t be alarmed, we’re all just taking a much needed vacation from the default... more ›

We at the Gothamist network would like to express our heartfelt wishes to the people of Minnesota in the days after their tragic bridge collapse. We're not trying to discount the severity of the accident by making note of it in opposition to our usual -Ist lightheartedness - we just wanted to take a moment and recognize those affected last week. more ›

Hey Dodger fans! While the Blue Crew is sticking it to the Giants on the field, here are two ways you can stick it to their fans online: First, invade San Francisco's website and enter the Giant's AT&T Summer Series. You can steal cool prizes from the hippies up north like fantasy batting practice, suite tickets, and a plasma TV. Watch their fans turn red in the face when you paint their town blue. Second,... more ›

Michael Bauer, he of the infamous review of Los Angeles restaurants, just posted this response on his blog: I figured I was treading into a tsunami when I wrote about the Los Angeles restaurant scene in Food last Wednesday. I knew some would disagree, but I had no idea what I wrote would be construed as dissing our sister city to the south. Several people sent me the links to comments on LAist and... more ›

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a picture displaying the woes of cruising in a tacky limo on the streets of San Francisco. more ›

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too - two of them in -Ist cities. more ›

The Dodgers won their 11th straight game at Pac Bell/SBC/AT&T Park yesterday. The Giants were held to 11 runs during this weekend's series (compare this to the Dodgers' 22 runs - or should we say 11*2?). Brett Tomko's ERA is no longer as close to 11 as it was prior to the game (and it was getting there...). I spent 11 hours in the car this weekend driving back and forth from SF and now hold hour long conversations with myself. Oh and Malingering has 11 letters. So does "coincidence." more ›

Banner week for SFist as the site's new editor introduced himself -- hooray for Brock! While the NY Times weighed in on SF's mayoral race, only SFist had the hard-hitting latest on candidate/activist Josh Wolf. Coverage of a protest vs. gentrification spawned a fantastic debate amongst SFist's readers. Finally, from the sublime to the ridiculous: video of a man that confused a Board of Supes meeting with "open mic night" and sang a custom version of Madonna's "Borderline" to a much-beleaguered board member. more ›

Turns out that cheap buzz you've been getting from Trader Joe's staple swill might actually be a legitimate wine tasting experience: Charles Shaw Chardonnay has won the top prize at this year's California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition. This is great news for those of us who buy the stuff by the case - and although we may fondly recall many nights (and days) (and, um, softball games) spent chugging wine from a box,... more ›

LAist was comped front row seats by the Dodgers due to Malingering being struck by a foul ball last week, and she came back with some great photos, and earlier made fun of 4th of July on Venice Beach. But the biggest stories of the week was that the Mayor's Hot Tamale was revealed, and that a Kwik-E-Mart was erected in Burbank. Phillyist was busy doing the Fourth of July up right, exercising their... more ›

Now that his extramarital shenanigans with Telemundo newscaster Mirthala Salinas have firmly supplanted his other accomplishments in the eyes of many Angelenos, pundits' tongues are a-wagging over the potential ramifications to his long-term mayoral career. Or, put more simply, can he move beyond Mirthala? While some commentators, such as San Jose State's Larry Gerston, have already written off Villaraigosa's future prospects, advising him not to "make any plans to run for the Democratic nomination in... more ›

- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls the Scooter Libby commutation "a betrayal of trust of the American people" - The Gavel - "Bush is to Libby as Baca is to Paris Hilton", says AnnieH - LA Times - Three Dodgers (Saito, Martin, Penny) make the NL All-Star Team - Daily News - Even the most generous forgiving man must admit that 3.21 inches is seriously lacking - LA Times - Unrelated, even scheduled Rain... more ›

- Two Long Beach teens are heroes after rescuing two kids in apartment fire - CBS2 - The LAFD and the FBI are investigating a tip that animal rights extremists placed a bomb under the car of a UCLA eye doctor - LAT - The LA Times has a new managing editor? Yes, no, maybe so? - FishbowlLA - Heck of a job, BushCo - Milk could cost $5 a gallon by end of... more ›