Mission Mission

SFGate just made up this nice graphic detailing forthcoming improvements to Valencia Street. The accompanying article includes comments from affected business owners and a handy by-the-numbers look at the plans (81 new trees, 32 new bicycle racks). Link.

Hella Breezys has the behind-the-scenes scoop on the shooting of Mama Clothing’s latest look book. Link.

Note that post author La Moussy equates Dolores Park to Echo Park — further proof that the Mission and Los Angeles are two peas in a pod.

Photos by One Hit Wonder.

Woke up this morning to a correspondence from a friend from Mumbai. It begins, “Well we are all fine. But the city is burning. Cant even begin to tell you how horrible it is.”

She talks about a few other things too before closing with, “Btw, happy thanksgiving! I am glad atleast some part of the world has reason to celebrate. As long as that happens, there’s always hope        “

I spent a few days in Los Angeles last week, and found myself wondering why everybody hates it so much. At some point, I happened to mention, maybe kind of excitedly, that I was in Hollywood waiting to see The Hives (incidentally maybe the best living punk band on the planet) play a free show in a parking lot early on a Thursday night, and somebody gives me some sass about how saying stuff like that might lose me my Mission credentials. …

ERRONEOUS!

Los Angeles has street art, dive bars, great food, interesting shopping, warm weather, diversity, and world-class entertainment on weeknights — just like the Mission. Sure, there are a lot of strip malls in between, but even our lovely neighborhood has a few generic (uggo!) storefronts here and there.

Like anything, with LA, you just have to take the time to suss out the good stuff.

One day, I skated out to West Hollywood and ate the most simultaneously horrifying and delightful thing I’ve ever eaten [image] (after having listened to the song over and over since getting Stage Diving to the Oldies like 15 years ago).

At a diner in Los Feliz (near where the above photo of me parkouring into an Uma Thurman mural was taken) I discovered my new favorite painter, a dude named Wayne White who buys up gross old mass-produced “paintings” and spices them up with thought-provoking block-lettered phrases, emblazoned right into the landscape, as if they totally belong there.

But, even more than the specific things I did, I really just found it nice to be down there. Even driving for miles and miles from one place to another, I was charmed by all the little neighborhoods and varying geography and things to see. My trip to LA was entirely pleasant.

The moral of the story is, think positive. There’s stuff to dislike about everyplace; don’t dwell on it. Spend your time looking for the good, because there’s always some good. Lucky for us, the Mission is mostly good, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy ourselves elsewhere from time to time too.

P.S. And what’s all that shit about calling it “The 101″? Live and let live!

Photo by Alex.

As I’m waiting for the traffic to clear on I-80, I’m reading this article on SFGate regarding the lack of airport activity at SFO. One person they interviewed was none other than SF’s ragtime guitar god Craig Ventresco who plays regularly at Atlas Cafe and occasionally at other Mission venues such as the Knockout and Amnesia:

“This is eerie,” said guitarist Craig Ventresco, an airport artist-in-residence who was flat-picking “Ain’t She Sweet” for a crowd of one person on a landing near the door to the parking lot. “If this is a sign of the times, it’s frightening.”

Ventresco, whose fingers were flying faster than most planes, said the plummeting economy was making ordinary people as broke as musicians.

“That’s not good,” he added, with a grim smile.

What a treat it would be to happen upon his playing enroute to an always abysmal family holiday.

I always kind of hated calendars because I would put so much time and effort into them over the course of the year, and come the end of December, I’m throwing away (or storing away) this big mass of paper (and memories). Not so with these forever calendars by Claire Nereim. They last forever!

California Flowering Trees is the latest, and for sale now at Little Otsu. Seasonal Fruits of California caught my eye a while back when I saw it on the wall at Needles + Pens. Both (and more) can be purchased at Claire’s Etsy shop.

I don’t think this is in the Mission. Nevertheless, it’s a charming idea brought to our attention by Kit at Neighbors Project. Not quite as good as the Lexington disco ball, but pretty good. Link.

Previously on Mission Mission:

Neighbors Project Says Patronize Your Local Corner Store

Local artist Laura Mappin finally figured out how to laser etch an image of her own face onto a toilet paper tube. Kudos, Laura! Read the whole touching story here.

Previously on Mission Mission:

Laura Mappin’s Cock Doilies

Any moped heads out there want to defend your lifestyle? Link.

Milkyboots is our favorite Louisville-based web comic. Author Virginia’s good friend JWoolard recently moved to SF:

Further explanation here.