Mission Mission

Seriously.  Some mega-douche made off with Mr. Daniel Harlan’s pug-nosed Himalayan cat, Samantha, from his makeshift encampment under a freeway off-ramp near 8th and Harrison.  Then, when he went off to look for her, his tent got stolen as well.

Seeing as how Samantha is the only thing he really cares about anymore, if you have any information concerning her whereabouts, please don’t hesitate to give Daniel a call on his cell at (415) 742-0095.  Yes, homeless people have cellphones too.  Pretty much everyone has one now.  In fact, I was woken up just last night by a recycling scavenger having an argument with someone he was talking to on his Nokia.  Multitasking!

Update!  The cat has been located and returned to Mr. Harlan. Well-meaning (an apparent non mega-douche) Tom Neville came upon Samantha just as Daniel had left her (leashed to the camp, in the rain) and assumed he was rescuing her from a terrible situation.  Which begs the question, is it a form of animal cruelty for homeless people to have pets?  What’s more important:  the pet’s well-being or the person’s emotional support?

[photo from sfgate]

Chasing the Moon is a great video podcast that highlights local bay area bands. The performances are filmed in HD and recorded in a professional studio one block away from the best Vietnamese sandwiches in town. I’m serious about the quality of these productions; they make Nirvana: Unplugged In NY look like it was filmed in Super 8. Ok maybe not, but that shit looks good considering their budget of no budget.

In the pagan tradition, the podcast is posted every full moon, which works out to just about every 28 days.

This past Saturday, I was fortunate enough to sit in during their session with the Nice Guy Trio, a very unique jazz group on the Mission’s own Porto Franco Records.

The Nice Guy Trio in action. I had little reason not to believe that they are actually nice.

Producer Brian Berberich and recording engineer Scott McDowell do all of this work out of the goodness of their music-lovin’ hearts. They see is as an opportunity to keep their industry chops up and promote the awesome local music that’s going on.

The atmosphere at the session was really professional and they seemed to have things streamlined well. If they were stressed out, they hid it well. Once things got rolling the whole filming and performance took less than an hour.

Spectators sat in a corner of the studio on comfy cushions from the couch and were asked to stay quiet during recording. Restraining applause until "CUT!" was actually really difficult and awkward.

Chasing the Moon is expanding to do monthly premiere events with live performances at the newly opened Viracocha on 21st and Valencia. Their first was on Jan. 29 and you can expect to see more soon. The Nice Guy Trio premiere will be in 2 or 3 months.

Thanks to Brian, Scott, and the Chasing the Moon team for hosting and chatting with me! More pictures after the jump.

Update: Brian had this to add:

Elijiah Pahati is actually the biggest reason Chasing the Moon is so great.  He is the Director, Director of Photography, and Editor, and is why everything looks good.  He is also our partner, every bit the owner Scott and I are.

So yeah, props are due to the Directory Elijiah Pahati! Sorry for leaving him out.

(more…)

About a year ago, Mission Mission published THIS EPIC PROFILE of this band the Limousines. In it, we learn about our generation’s lousy work ethic, and how the band accidentally wrote THE TUMBLR ANTHEM and just might be the voice of this very busy generation.

Since then, the Limousines have risen to fame and conquered Treasure Island (pictured), and later this month they’re playing Noise Pop — and we’re giving away a pair of FREE TICKETS! They’re playing Friday, February 26, at Slim’s, with Wallpaper, Butterfly Bones and Battlehooch.

To enter, leave a comment below that makes substantive reference to the aforementioned EPIC PROFILE. Winner will be decided randomly or perhaps based on merit. Contest ends one week from right now.

(And yes I’m still watching Late Night with Jimmy Fallon; I mean, did you guys see the Hot Chip performance last week!?)

Photo by Kristin.

This is an 8-minute video about nerdy beer stuff.

That said, it stars Broke-Ass Stuart and a friend of his that tends bar at the Monk’s Kettle, and it’s really fun to watch Stu not give a shit about all the knowledge his pal is dropping on him.

They make a good point though: Why drink tall cans of Bud when you can get a pint of Death & Taxes (which is tastier, higher in alcohol, locally made, and doesn’t even look like a gay beer) for roughly the same price?

Thanks for the tip, Stu!

Somebody street arted their coffee or something all over the sidewalk on Valencia Street, and it looked like a monster, so I drew it. A few times.

The original is still the best by far. Anyone else want to take a crack?

Dang, I thought maybe I was over Ramona, but I’m not.

She just figured out the answer to every problem any of us has ever had with interpersonal communication. See for yourself.

Photo by TheeErin.

You’ll just have to ask Sexpigeon where exactly this driveway of forgiveness is located.

I don’t care for all the foul language, but I kind of like this guy’s attitude.

The best part is when your girlfriend’s ass turns out to be his ass. That was an Avatar-level special effect if ever I saw one.

Also, who doesn’t love a good Beat Happening gag?

And stay for the last 10 seconds.

[via Radballs]

“Caught this devotional item in the window of a religious curiosity shop on 24th near Mission,” says photographer Jim Parker, “I think something got lost in translation.”

Maybe, maybe not. Maybe organized religion can fuck itself.

Thanks, Jim!

I have mixed feelings about Nap’s 3 karaoke night, which takes place on Fridays and Saturdays.

"When's it my turn? Wouldn't I love; love to explore that world up above? Out of the sea; Wish I could be; Part of that world"

On the one hand, the bar has a refreshing clientele of alcoholic old-timers who aren’t too proud to high-five the oddly-dressed young folks who happen into the place. Rarely was there more than a 3-song wait before your time to shine. Also, the exceedingly jolly KJ has a kick-ass raspy, soulful croon.

No, really. How deep is it?

On the other hand, their book is rife with glaring song duplicates and some surprising omissions. No Huey Lewis And The News or Boyz II Men? Every Tom Jones song except for “What’s New Pussycat” and “It’s Not Unusual”? I can think of 20 Nirvana songs I’d want to sing before their only suggestion: “All Apologies”. I didn’t check if they had Sinatra’s “My Way”, but maybe that’s best left unknown. Furthermore, the bar had a baffling “no beer, just $7 cocktails” last call policy.

So what’s the best place for karaoke in the Mission? Good karaoke spots are a delicate balance of a good song book, stiff drinks, not too many intimidatingly talented regulars (e.g. the Mel-o-dee, El Cerrito), and not too popular so you can actually get some songs in.

My vote might have to go to Amnesia’s Tuesday Rock-Out! Karaoke with Glenny Kravitz. I went a couple of months ago and have never seen so much spontaneous broomstick-air-guitar in my life. Although, who knows if the lines are still short.