Mission Mission

Just found this great video of Ramon & Jessica and was reminded that they will be playing TONIGHT at the Red Poppy Art House on Folsom and 23rd. This is a great, intimate room to see them in.

Tuvan-throat singing bluesman Seth Augustus will also be on the bill.

Doors at 8:45pm, show at 9pm. $10-15 suggested donation.

With a forecast calling for mostly pleasant weather, there is no shortage of fun things to do outside in the sun this weekend.  First up on Saturday, the Mission Creek Festival reconvenes for a free outdoor concert at McLaren Park from noon to 6pm.  Local products The Fresh & Onlys and Grass Widow headline a melodious offering that also features Brian Glaze & the Night Shift and Ganglians.  Remember to bring a sweater just in case because we live in San Francisco.

Sunday marks the 2nd summer session of the indie mart at thee Parkside.  As I’ve said before, it’s tough to beat a Sunday spent leisurely strolling along a closed-off city block while sipping a Zeitgest-tier bloody mary and scoping the latest offerings from local fashion designers, such as the custom sized 1960s bikinis from newcomer Lacombe Lingerie.  The design-your-own-terrariums will also be returning this time around, joined this time by a life-size terrarium where you can hang out and drink some beers while you kick it with Pauly Shore.  PBR giveaways, dog and cat adoption, Heavy Metal Aerobics, and a slew of musical acts round out the action, which also happens to run from noon to 6pm.  Don’t forget the sunscreen!

[Photo by hummingbirdheart]

There’s something wonderfully surreal about seeing a trapeze artist in the middle of a typical Mission backdrop.

Stephan Zielinski took this beautiful photo of High-Flyin’ Abigail at 20th and Harrison during Circus Bella‘s outdoor performance last Sunday. They have two more performances this month in Oakland. All proceeds go towards the Foot Locker on Broadway and Telegraph (no, not really):

• Friday, July 16 at 6:00PM. Studio One Art Center, Oakland
• Sunday, July 18 at 11:45AM. Dimond Park, Oakland

Check out the rest of Stephan’s shots on his web site.

Happy Friday, all y’all! Please do consider adopting one of these animals!

Finn — 10-month-old male Yellow Lab

I think they named me Finn cause I like to swim? Wait, but I also like to hike…and walk…and run….and chase those things you call tennis balls. Point is, I like to a lot of things, and the more outdoorsy and social it is, the more I love it!

It’s summertime out there, and that means you’re spending time at the park, at the sidewalk café, and just enjoying all the things the Bay Area has to offer – I would love to share those with you!

Loretta — 5-year-old tabby

This full figured gal is as sweet as they come. Loretta can be a bit shy at first but give her some time and she’ll be ready to climb into your lap! Loretta is generally low-key so quieter homes would probably make her happiest. If you’re looking for a relaxed, sun-bathing type of cat that wants to lounge next to you while you read a book then visit Loretta! Seriously, how can you resist that face?? And remember – July means name your adoption fee for us adult cats! I mean, I’m worth a zillion bucks, but we can make arrangements

All pets adopted from SFSPCA have received a pre-adoption veterinary exam and behavior assessment, vaccinations, spay/neuter surgery and a microchip.

Where: The San Francisco SPCA’s Maddie’s Adoption Center
Address: 250 Florida Street (at 16th – Street)
Hours: Open Tues – Friday 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday/Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Closed Mondays and major holidays.
Contact: 415-522-3500, www.sfspca.org
Follow SFSPCA at facebook.com/sfspca and twitter.com/sfspca.

For the past three Fridays from 5-9pm, Matt Cohen (SF Cart Project) has been organizing “Off The Grid” meetups in Fort Mason where all your favorite independent food trucks gather and vie for your attention with their adorable, pun-filled, flavor-enhancing names. The event also features an alcohol tent and local live music. In fact, tonight the Ferocious Few will be playing at the event, if you’re not up to anything.

Last Friday, I hopped on the 49 and checked it out. Vendor favorites like El Haurache Loco, Soul Cocina, Chairman Bao, and Kung Fu Tacos were all in attendance. It was fun, although I must say I was a bit overwhelmed with the selection. I wasn’t exactly hungry or wealthy enough to spend $7 at three different trucks to try stuff out. Still, it was nice to know that there was one place I could count on all these guys to be once a week as opposed to following 50 twitter feeds.

Matt has been pushing to hold similar events in the Haight, Civic Center, and the Mission. After last night’s Parks and Rec meeting, he got his approval. The Mission location will be Mission Playground.

No word on when the permitting process will wrap up, but after chatting with him a bit last week, Matt seems like a pretty motivated dude and I’m sure he’ll get the ball rolling right away.

(via SFWeekly, photo by Gary Soup)

Watch out Brooklyn! Valencia is The New Hip Street in the City according to NBC Bay Area!

Mention of skinny jeans? Check.

Mention of ironic sunglasses? Check.

Mention of fixies? Check.

Mention of gentrification? Check.

I’m so glad our “flannel-draped” community gets to park our bikes in front “high-end restaurants” like Spork. NBC really hit the nail on the head with this one.

The owners of the building at Erie and Mission that got Banksy’d back during the artist’s spree through the city in promotion of his movie were very excited about having a famous piece of art on their property.  Now, it seems as though they are taking it a step further, as reader Milu explains:

I heard they were going to do a mural around this Banksy piece, well, it looks like Chor Boogie has christened the beginning of it.

Now, I’m not exactly sure what he might have in store for the rest of this piece, but that obese robin is a fantastic start.  Poignant commentary about the inequal economics of art?  At the very least, way better than getting Kaiser Soze’d.  Curious to see how this all turns out!  I wonder if the context will be preserved, which you can see in the before shot captured by Travis LoDolce below:

(Thanks for the pic, Milu!)

Previously:

San Francisco Has Banksy Fever!

Banksy Fever Continues!

Amnesia Banksy Does Kaiser Soze Impression

From the comments thread of the previous post, Christopher F. Smith‘s fine tale of a 16th and Mission original.

Here’s the thing. Many property owners in San Francisco seem to think that life size owl statues placed as if perching on the edge of the rooftops will be a deterrent to the local pigeon population. I can go along with that as an idea. The scarecrow, right? Sounds good. But does it actually work? Internet people, via search engines, seem to think that they don’t work unless they’re selling them.

I decided to do something similar to what an actual journalist would do and took a look around.

Here we find a little trio (they’re not a “gang” just because they’re chilling together) relaxing on some garbage cans under the watchful eyes of the owl. No threat here. No thought that the “owl”, a natural predator, would ever swoop down and snatch them up. Are they co-existing or do they even notice?

Here we see two pigeons hanging with two owls. No problem. Everyone’s cool. Jokes on us, they’re actually having a good time together. They enjoy the company.

My thought, the pigeons (Rock Dove sounds nicer) are such urban creatures that they don’t recognize that the owls are supposed to resemble another bird. They think it’s part of a Community Thrift pickup that was left behind. They’d no sooner expect it to come down upon them like a fierce beast of fury than they would cower under an old broken Mr. Coffee.

What do you people think? In any case, I enjoy seeing fake owls around. I think we should mix it up, though. A vulture here and there. Maybe two swans to make pigeons fall in love. A dodo to make them feel superior. Then a peacock to bring them back down to size.

It’s been a too long since Gamelan Girl last graced MM with her presence.  Luckily, Gamelan is coming to the Mission this weekend for the first time that I can remember so you can all finally see what the fuss is about. 

Dance Mission (you know, the studio above the Chinese/Donut place on 24th and Mission that sometimes causes you to think the world is ending when you walk by, only to realize that people are just banging on giant drums up there) is hosting the Gadung Kasturi Balinese Dance group this Friday and Saturday at 8pm each evening.  Tickets are available for a very reasonable $12 at Brown Paper Tickets.

Chill out to the soothing, meditative rhythms and chimes of this ancient Asian art form.  Smoke a bowl or something if that’s what it takes (Disclaimer:  MM never advocates drug use) because you’re going to want to zone out to this contagious groove.  If that’s not enough, 8-year old dance sensation Chandra Ayu Davies will be there too, dazzling us with her moves.  Try something different before you head over to the Mission Creek Festival this weekend!

[Photo]

 Previously:

Gamelan Girl