If you've got friends on the West Coast, your Facebook news feed was likely submerged in status updates about the lightning and thunder Thursday night. Here are 10 astonishing photos of the storm in action over San Francisco.
Culture Buzz San Francisco-based magazine The Bold Italic has made this graphic to help you avoid fucking up Valentine's Day. What sweethearts!
Food Buzz If this really is Taco Bell’s new marketing strategy, it is bold. But I think they might be doing it wrong.
Hsin-Yao Tseng is an incredibly talented twelve-year-old artist who pours his love of San Francisco into these gorgeous cityscapes. (via barnorama.com)
Celebrity Buzz Jesse Morris, the San Francisco busker known as the “Punk Rock Johnny Cash,” passed away this week at age 27. He was the true ghost of Johnny Cash, R.I.P.
The News Corp. CEO gave a speech in San Francisco yesterday at an education summit and was interrupted by #OccupySesameStreet activists, ostensibly speaking out for education reform. All six protesters were ejected from the conference but no arrests were made. Staged? (via Gawker and Xinhua News.)
Culture Buzz Hot Rides is a group of badass babes who like 'smoky, loud, fast, two-wheeled things' but were tired of riding bitch, so they bought their own bikes and hit the streets of California together. One of the founders says it's “about being in a group and having pack mentality, revving it up and riding motorcycles in high heels, doing something that is dangerous and dangerously fun, and sharing it with other talented ladies.” I think Sonny Barger would approve.
Culture Buzz Bring out The Gimp. San Francisco's legendary celebration of sexual discipline was in back in full swing (whip?) on Sunday.
They've come for your bananas and your monocles. These are tamarins at the San Francisco Zoo, and they desperately need tiny top hats.
Bay Area girl group Hottub makes Four Loco look delicious when they pour the stuff in champagne flutes. (via sfist.com)
Culture Buzz Share these awesome signs with your favorite sluts to show you care. (via sfweekly.com)
Extremely disturbing video of a 19-year-old man dying on the street after being shot by the San Francisco Police Department. The incident stemmed from a routine fare inspection on a San Francisco bus. The man fled and police pursued. Officers at the scene insist he was armed and fired on them, but a gun was never found. Multiple eyewitnesses say the young man was never armed and had his hands up at the time he was shot. Again, this video—depicting the man bleeding on the ground shortly after the fatal gunshot—is very graphic. More information here. (via globalgrind.com)
Tim Pawlenty gets a face full of glitter in San Francisco. First Newt, now T-Paw…who will be the next GOP presidential contender to get a glittery facial?
You know what San Francisco needs to ban? The ability to ban things. Apparently certain factions of the San Fran political system believe purchasing anything from a goldfish to a puppy from a store is the equivalent of setting up a puppy mill in your back yard. Because nothing says democracy like draconian laws.
Politics Buzz Not the Goldfish that are essential to the survival of babies everywhere silly! The City by the Bay is talking about banning the real thing, saying the fish are being bred under inhumane conditions. (via sfist.com)
Today marks the 60th anniversary of Willie Mays' major league debut. To commemorate Mays, LIFE posted a collection of rare photos of the Hall of Famer - none better than him about to light up defenseless, sleeping teammate Monte Irvin with a pillow. (Nice find by Emma Carmichael at Deadspin.)
Bravo, San Francisco Chronicle! You just made Rick Santorum throw up in his mouth. (via SFist)
Culture Buzz Taken from the 2011 Hunky Jesus Contest in (dur) San Francisco. More like a Gre-GORGEOUS Calendar!
Scott Weaver's intricate kinetic toothpick sculpture of San Francisco is arguably the most amazing thing I've ever seen. He's spent thousands of hours making this sculpture over the course of 35 years. (Via Colossal Art & Design)
Culture Buzz San Francisco artist Al Farrow uses ammunition and parts from firearms to build miniature churches, synagogues, and mosques. (Via Official Hype)
Whatever “No Parking” sign. I do what I want. These San Francisco natives hid their four car garage behind a Victorian facade. Presumably they wanted to keep the neighborhood looking classy, but I'm going to say they're actually superheroes. Or spies. Or awesome.
Culture Buzz The SF Mirrors Project is a public art project whose mission is to spread a bit of random happiness with motivational messages on mirrors. Excellent idea! It's always nice to see random acts of inspiration!
A man at a San Francisco porno shop bursts into flames, runs through the store and out onto the street as his clothes disintegrate. He sustained life-threatening, third degree burns over 90% his body and is still in critical condition. The cause is officially unknown, but the video poster seems to think crack was involved.
San Francisco is super hot on the BuzzFeed Network right now. Here's all the best viral buzz on San Francisco.
Hipmunk made a nifty little guide for what to expect when you walk around various cities in the US. The quip about NYC is pretty accurate.
Culture Buzz In chronological order! Today's disaster is merely one of many reminders that Mother Nature only tolerates our presence most of the time. From ancient Greece to modern day Peru, millions have suffered the devastating effects of tectonic shift.
Culture Buzz These recently unearthed photos are among some of the first color photos taken of one of the greatest natural disasters that occurred in America. The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake completely destroyed the city leaving 3000 dead and 300,000 homeless. The quake itself registered a 7.9 on the Richter Scale, compared to the 8.3 quake that just hit Japan.
Culture Buzz Although it wasn't a romantic evening with just the two of them. A whole slew of business titans, including Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt, were also at the dinner. It was part of the Obama Administration's outreach efforts to the business community, specifically looking for ways to help boost America's tech industry.
Hundreds of people attend San Francisco’s Sixth Annual Mass Pillow Fight. Last year, city cleanup crews worked for nearly two days, and San Francisco’s Public Works Department says it costs about 17,000 dollars to clean up the mess.
A documentary on the development of hardcore porn in the theaters of San Francisco, a city once known as “The Smut Capital of the United States.”