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Ah, but dear members of Camp 2, you do know Bill Withers. You have undoubtedly heard Club Nouveau's rendition of Withers' "Lean On Me" far too many times to count. If you're like me, you may even have a vaguely sad or embarrassing memory attached to the song. Mine involves a gradeschool birthday party in Brooke Blass' garage where we stood around singing along to the radio, eating cake and dreaming up reasons to mix and mingle with the boys in attendance. When "Lean On Me" was blasted over the boom box speakers, someone had the bright idea to stand in a huge circle and put our arms around each others' shoulders. Yes, Withers' songwriting gave us that exciting and elusive reason to touch each other, which is kind of a big deal when you're twelve. A much better anecdote about this song is that Withers wrote it before he became a recording star, penning it as an ode to the camaraderie he experienced growing up in a West Virginia coal mining town (source). The sentiment in the song is real, and Withers' version is obviously way better than anything Club Nouveau could ever imagine. (Henceforth, I will never mention Club Nouveau again.)

But Fergie's voice has a chainsaw or dentist drill quality to it, especially when she's belting out a song. It is a truly disturbing sound. If this sound were to awaken you out of a peaceful slumber, you would instinctively hurl a heavy object at t...

This is where I go when I really want to stress myself out.

M-----l wrote me a letter! With underwear drawings!

This one goes out to my homie Krissy:

Fearing that the drinking game as written might leave all of us a bit too drunk for a work night, Mena thought of a nice twist: after eliminating all of the no-longer-relevant prompts, we printed out the remaining ones in enlarged type, cut them up, and put them into a bag (a Jay McCarroll bag, no less!), then selected one by one our individual prompts, thus dividing up about 40 prompts between the three of us.

When I was thinking of reviving this here blog, I decided I needed original artwork for my banner and Marc was the first and only artist I considered. Things just keep getting busier over at Marc Johns HQ, as they rightly should, so I feel extraordinarily fortunate that he was available and willing to let me commission a custom art piece (If you're reading this post in a feed reader, please click through to check out the full-size banner.)

I'm buying local, from my Vox neighbor!

A report released Wednesday by Scarborough Research reveals that Austin, Texas has the highest percentage of residents who read or write blogs. In Austin, 15% of adults had read or contributed to a blog in the past 30 days, while #2 Portland followed with 14% and tied for third was San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose (an odd clumping, we must say) and Seattle/Tacoma, both with 13%. Other top cities: Honolulu, San Diego, Dallas, Columbus, Nashville, Colorado Springs, and Washington D.C.

GPSWhile band hopefuls and raucous UT students party on Sixth Street, South Congress (SoCo) is a bastion of cool and quirky boutiques and restaurants with an imposing Capitol view. The fashion set likes South First (SoFi) and South Lamar (SoLa) — they’re nearby and less saturated.NESTHipster hideaway Hotel San Jose (1316 S. Congress Ave.; 512-444-7322), a revitalized 1930s bungalow-style spot beloved for its Zen courtyard and pool, rents old-fashioned typewriters. (That’ll inspire the memoir.) You’ll feel like a local in a cottage at Park Lane Guest House (221 Park Ln.; 512-447-7460), a green hotel with organic, vegetarian breakfast and a pro-pets policy. Technically, Four Seasons Hotel Austin (98 San Jacinto Blvd.; 512-478-4500) is outside SoCo, but the spa’s eucalyptus steam rooms and Lady Bird Lake vistas make it worth a mini diversion.

It was SFist's first editor Jackson West who asked me to write a music column back in '04 and he also came up with the name of it. I thought, it's SF-related and a quote from a Journey song - perfect! For the past three years my aim has been to tell you about the music in San Francisco that I like and hopefully expose you to stuff you've never heard. And so you could actually hear and enjoy the music instead of just reading about it, I tried to give away a CD or tickets each week. You've noticed by now that I've broken out using the royal "we". I figured I could break the rules since this is the last post I'll write for SFist. I'm moving away from San Francisco, back home to Austin, Texas, which is probably the only reason I'd stop writing for this incredible site.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- There it sits on your nightstand, that book you've meant to read for who knows how long but haven't yet cracked open. Tonight, as you feel its stare from beneath that teetering pile of magazines, know one thing -- you are not alone.

Walking up Sanchez Street on our way to the Noe Valley Ministry, we passed by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglová (a.k.a. The Swell Season) strolling smilingly toward 24th Street, not a care in the world. They didn't look like two musicians preparing for a concert and they certainly didn't give off the air of being the stars of Once, a truly incredible film that's currently playing in theaters. They were enjoying each other and the calm, cool twilight - a sure sign that it was going to be a good night.

My weekly column about San Francisco music and concerts. This week's giveaway is two tickets to one day of the Treasure Island Music Festival.

I'm giving away two copies of John Vanderslice's new album Emerald City, plus show reviews for St. Vincent and Rufus Wainwright and recommended shows this week in San Francisco.

Perhaps the best album we've heard this year comes from a Texan named Annie Clark, a.k.a. St. Vincent. She's a seasoned touring guitarist for Sufjan and the Polyphonic Spree, but at only 24 years old she just released a debut album that's sophisticated, brave and artistically mature enough to make you think that whatever you were doing when you were 24 was insufficient. St. Vincent has a rich, feminine croon and a penchant for stretching it over rugged and challenging soundscapes. The diversity on this album shows she's got a lot in store for us; we haven't been this excited about a new artist since we first heard Feist 2 1/2 years ago. Expect a long and vibrant musical career from St. Vincent. We've got a pair of tickets for one lucky winner to see her at Cafe Du Nord on Friday night, plus a copy of her outstanding debut album Marry Me. Watch her work her black patent mary janes over a stomp box in the video below, and then enter to win. (Contest ends Friday morning! Winner will be notified via email.)

This week's giveaway: the new Von Iva CD; Ryan Adams show review

This week's giveaway: Ryan Adam's 'Easy Tiger'