Mission Mission

Last night’s show was a stunner. The house was packed, and Jonathan and Tommy were in top form. They played a lot of old hits, and debuted some great new material, including a chant-along proto-punk rant about cellphones that should probably satisfy the needs of those people that constantly shout requests for She Cracked. Tonight’s contest winner is Will. Here is his entry:

I’ve seen Jonathan Richman only once before, in early 2001. It was the day after my 20th birthday and as a treat my friend offered to drive me from Norman, OK to Rubber Gloves in Denton, TX to see him perform. I was in my first year of college and had only recently began to broaden my musical horizons (with the aid of the still functionin Napster and Audio Galaxy) so I had either not yet heard of or had not paid any attention to the name Jonathan Richman. I decided to go since a free show was a free show. The opening act was Eric Bachmann performing songs from his still fresh project Crooked Fingers. Richman came on shortly afterward, shaking the hand of Penn Jillette who somehow appeared in the audience. He played for a good hour and a half on the bare stage, what I would soon learn were classics from his days with the Modern Lovers, love ballads in spanish, songs that were inflatable water park sinisterly child-like. This was the first time I heard his music and I wish that I could have the pleasure of discovering the music of every great artist so intimately. To experience Jonathan again would be great, but to experience him again in such a raw and almost unrehearsed state would be a fitting sequel.

This one we liked because of the imagery of Penn and Jonathan being buddies, the opportunity to reiterate that these shows can be raw and unrehearsed, and despite the fact that chuckling at the Audio Galaxy reference made us feel old. Congrats, Will. Show time is 8pm, don’t be late!

Photo of Jonathan thanking the crowd after last night’s show by wizardmountain.

I’ve been watching a lot of horror movies lately. Good ones, bad ones, old ones, new ones. A common element has been that they’re generally 90 minutes long and only about 20 of those minutes are good — filled with zombies, gore and action. The other 70 minutes tend to involve talking, exposition, or irrelevant things like romance and character development.

Meter Maid Me Massacre (by local auteur Cecil B. Feeder) is 20 minutes long, and almost all 20 minutes are packed with artfully crafted gore, serious martial arts action, and topless zombie girls. The characters are paper-thin, the story is ludicrous (who drives a car in this city anyway?), and while there is a romantic subplot, it takes up all of about 30 seconds.

Early scenes take place at Zeitgeist, and the climactic final act takes place in and around Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, so be on the lookout for your favorite bartenders and brewmasters. The film screens today at 5pm as part of Another Hole in the Head at the Roxie.

[dry heave]

[dry heave]

Coca!

[dry heave]

Jonathan Richman and drummer Tommy Larkins begin their four-night residency at the Make-Out Room tonight. The club gave Mission Mission a small block of tickets to give away to readers, and we decided to do it contest-style. Tonight’s winner is Joel, and here is his entry:

Probably by most accounts I don’t deserve to go to this show. I’ve never knowingly heard Jonathan Richman. However!–at a formative time in my life (late high school), Craig Mitchell’s MyBoot.com and its flagship unfinished novella, My Girlfriend Hates My Futon, firmly impressed upon me how incredibly worthwhile one of his concerts would be. For the last 9 years or so I haven’t had the chance to find out for myself, but this seems like perfect serendipity. This is that chance. Now is the time.

For reference, or on the off chance that you have no idea what I’m talking about, said novella is only available on the internet archive. I’ve gone to great trouble to find the pertinent chapter for you: [link]. While you’re at it, try giving the rest of the story a read and just see if it’s not the sort of thing that would have given high-school-aged you some ideas about music.

Well we have kind of a short attention span right now, so we’ll get back to you about the novella, but we certainly like the idea of reminiscing about high-school aged us, and we like serendipity. Congrats, Joel!

Photo of Jonathan and Tommy at Rockaway Records by pneyu.

Seconds after we mentioned some street art at Bowery and Houston in New York City, Jeff from Muni Diaries wrote in with a tip about a business whose New York City location is just a few blocks southwest near Centre and Grand:

just noticed a pretty cool NYC designer is opening a store in the mission: built by wendy.

pix attached. maybe this means the gentrification of the mission some have been waiting for

Well readers, is that what it means? Thanks, Jeff!

Please excuse this quick detour from the Mission to the Bowery, but Animal just published this beauty and we thought you’d like to see it. Link.

Previously on Mission Mission:

Matt Gonzalez T-Shirt Drew No Ire

When It Rains It Pours

Katie met Erica Ginelle at an art thing in Pacific Heights. They bonded briefly because they were by far the two youngest people there. Plus, Erica has a gallery in the Mission, and Katie has a blog about the Mission.

Anyhow, Ginelle’s and Erica’s gallery (which is called Iceberger) is having an opening for a new exhibition by Richard T. Walker Saturday from 7-9pm:

Walker utilizes spoken dialogue, text and original music compositions to generate video and photographic works that explore complex relationships between language, the environment and the human condition.

This means, among other things, big pictures of epic landscapes made richer by the addition of thought-provoking little pieces of text. (Click above picture to make it big enough to be able to read the text.)

Previously on Mission Mission:

Little Star’s ‘I Assure You — We’re Open’ Sign Celebrated in Techy Web-Writing Circles

tehjoyof just published this funny photo of a puppy all tarted up for Carnaval. Link.

Better than any haiku I’ve heard all year:

“Look at this homie here

He gave you his beer

Even though you fucked up his face”

Previously on Mission Mission:

Overheard on the 14X

Chillaxin’ at the Nice Lady Store

Mission Mission pal Norm invites us to tonight’s screening of What Would It Mean to Win? at ATA:

Filmed on the blockades at the G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany in June 2007. In their first collaborative film Zanny Begg and Oliver Ressler focus on the current state of the counter-globalisation movement in a project which grows out of both artists’ preoccupation with globalisation and its discontents. The film, which combines documentary footage, interviews, and animation sequences, is structured around three questions pertinent to the movement: Who are we? What is our power? What would it mean to win?

Find out tonight. Only $6. Link.

Photo of riot police at Heiligendamm last year by paper_riot.