Mission Mission

I found some more street art on Valencia. And just like last time, I helped it out a bit. It’s sort of addicting.

I dunno. What else is it supposed to be?

Speaking of which, Seattle-based illustrator, designer and awesome dad, Gaelan Kelly did a couple versions of the last one:

Pete Scully is a master street artist. That is, he’s an artist that draws streets. Sometimes Mission ones!

On his site, he calls himself an “urban sketcher” which is the same thing I call a lot of the dudes I see hanging around in alleys off of S. Van Ness at 2am. Not only are his sketches amazing, but the guy is a wizard with water colors (or “colours” as he would probably write). He also name-dropped Gozer The Gozerian which is awesome.

Feel free to use that as an artist bio, Pete.

(via Pete’s Flickr)

“Hi, I’m an admin for a group called Chinese Restaurants Being Invaded By Monstrous Snakes, and we’d love to have this added to the group!”

Expertly shot at Big Lantern on 16th and Guererro.

(via Ariel’s Flickr)

Says Eater SF of Farina’s new venture.

And then we’ll be devoured like a bucket of KFC or a ham and cheese croissant.  Muni is insatiable these days, and even with unfair fare increases (see what I did there?) and service being cut all over the city, its new director will make $225,039!!!  And despite all that, it’s still a self-admitted sinking ship.

So, how does everyone feel about the proposed March Against Muni boycott?  It’s not a “march” in the classical sense but instead a rather clever pun which asks participants to “pledge not to buy a March Fast Pass and stop or reduce riding Muni for the month of March 2010.”  Some of their demands are reasonable (no more rude drivers), some are pure fantasy (no more delays–sure dudes, whatev), and some are completely contradictory (no more paper fast passes AND no more exploiting seniors–make up your minds!). 

Jeff over at Muni Diaries thinks that since Muni’s problems resulted primarily from Governator-imposed budget slashes, a boycott will only worsen Muni’s monetary outlook and ability to serve the city.  He makes a good point.

So what do you think?  Will this lead to cleaner, on-time buses?  Over-crowded bike lanes?  Or will it just push Muni past the event horizon into the swirling vortex of bankruptcy and deterioration?

Wow, cyclist heroism is the theme of the week! You may remember a post from a couple of weeks ago about Jesse’s beloved green cruiser being stolen from his garage. Well, MM reader Emily posted a comment that she had a similar bike gathering dust in her yard:

hey, i’ve got a not-as-cool, but similar black schwinn cruiser in my backyard (that somehow hasn’t been stolen) looking for some love if you want a replacement. i’ve been meaning to fix it up, but would rather give it to someone who needs it!

Yesterday Jesse reported:

Just wanted to let you know that I hooked up with Emily today and grabbed her old cruiser.  She didn’t want anything for it, but I brought her a nice bottle of Amador Cellars Zinfandel I picked up when I went wine tasting there over Thanksgiving.  A very cheap price to pay for a replacement cruiser. Thanks for posting for me, and thanks to good hearted people.  I’ve attached a pic of the new bike.

Now that’s what I call an awesome neighbor. You rock, Emily!

(Say, you wouldn’t happen to have any French-threaded 58cm road forks in your yard, would you? )

Photographer Matt Baume says he detects a hint of skepticism in this “pious” PSA.  Link.

P.S. My sister was just telling me about watching some movie on TV in which censors had changed every instance of a character saying “Jesus Christ” to “cheese and rice.” Cheese and rice! I’ve started using it.

P.P.S. I’m listening to the new Johnny Cash album right now, and it’s pret-ty good. (He’s talking about Heaven and Jesus and virtues and stuff.)

The latest entry in Mission Mission’s Introduce Yourself section comes from Jason and concludes:

Oh, and if your new to the neighborhood and you drive an SUV I have stopped popping your tires and keying your paint job long ago. In fact, welcome.

Link. Kudos, Jason!

“It’s the orange that makes it,” says OMG the Mish of this piece of art currently for sale at Gestalt. Link.

Whoa. Street art is starting to read like tweets. … 2010!!

Photo by KayVee.INC.