Mission Mission

Wouldn’t it be lovely if this lovely stretch of Folsom had some bike lanes?

Well, tomorrow there’s a hearing to see whether neighbors think it’d be a good idea or whatever. Reader Brian C. lays down the details:

I noticed one of those “SFMTA Public Hearing” notices near my house at
24th and Folsom today, and the item that caught my eye was:

“ESTABLISH – BIKE LANES

Folsom Street, northbound, 14th Street to 24th Street

Folsom Street, southbound, 13th Street to 24th Street”

I hadn’t heard anything about this until I saw the sign, but that
would be pretty great for the cyclists in the neighborhood. So the
hearing is Friday, Feb 4, at 10 am, in Room 416 of City Hall. We
should really get people out there to support this, because almost
certainly there will be car/NIMBY types there to try to shoot it down.

The notice is online [here]

Thanks, Brian!

[Photo by Google Maps]

On the second floor, with the big windows?

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!  And what better way to celebrate than with Vietnamese Street Food?

So inspired by the sidewalk dining and street food we ate in Vietnam, we have recreated the experience here in our hometown — complete with small tables, even smaller stools, fresh Vietnamese condiments, Cambodian pop music, and delicious food of course! We’re serving up Vietnamese comfort foods such as stuffed chicken wings with a thai chili sauce and crab sautéed glass noodles.

Drop by our terrace at a private residence near 20th and Valencia to grab some grub on the go or take a seat at one of our mini-tables to do it up, Saigon-style. We’ll tweet our exact location on February 3rd; follow @littleknockand @kitchensidecar to receive the tip.

I might not be able to make this tonight, but I expect a detailed report from the field, readers!

Remember, it is NOT okay to pick these cherry blossom branches.  Nobody cares that you are planning the most romantic Valentine’s Day ever for your significant other by trying to recreate the opening sequence from Samurai Shodown in your bedroom.  Please respect the amazing cherry blossom clip art that was created specially for this informative sign.

There are better ways to get cherry blossoms, folks, and it’s not from these embattled trees on 19th Street @ York.

Yeah, so somebody found a bag of grenades in a garage, the bomb squad comes in, they shut down Potrero Avenue, they run a robot in there, KTVU starts showing some live video, robot picks up the bag to ferry it out to some kind of disposal unit, and as it’s cruising down the sidewalk, the bag splits and grenades — GRENADES — start spilling out. But the robot doesn’t seem to notice, and ROLLS RIGHT OVER ONE.

KTVU has the whole long video here, but nothing beats the above screenshot.

(Thanks, ZB!)

Previously:

Potrero Not a Good Travel Option This Morning BECAUSE OF GRENADES

Since it happens to be closed off to traffic from Mariposa to 19th. Something is going down near the 18th Street intersection, as there are firetrucks, cruisers, and even DPT Cushmans on the scene, in addition to that auspicious black truck-van.  So, unless you prefer to be late in whatever endeavors you undertake this morning, try to find another route.

UPDATE!!! Apparently this closure was due to the fact that GRENADES were found there!  Too much Call of Duty, folks.

They’re called Ankhs. Music fan David Enos is thinking about checking them out:

Cool new band out of Chico, “Ankhs”.  Gonna be rocking at the Stork Club on Telegraph on a West Coast tour in a couple weeks, supporting Cumulus Zen and Rainy Day Woman (acoustic).  Thinking about checking em out.  Free barbeque in the back, 4:30 pm.

Not convinced? Check out this little documentary film:

[Image via David Enos]

Janebook is about to rile you up:

Earlier today I was totally distracted and left my phone on top of a paper towel dispenser in the restroom at the Public Library on 24th Street. Realized a few minutes later, ran back down to look for it and it was gone. I went to ask the lady at the desk if anyone had turned it in and she said nobody had turned anything in that day. Honestly I wasn’t expecting anything so I wasn’t too surprised, just assumed someone had taken it, and was at least consoled by the fact that, were this the case, they wouldn’t gain much from selling it as it’s a first generation iPhone that’s three years old and has a shattered screen among myriad other problems. So imagine my surprise when I get home and go on Facebook to see that two of my friends have messaged me saying that a guy called them saying he found my phone and wants to return it. So I call the guy, arrange to meet up with him. He’s incredibly nice, refuses to take the reward money I offer him, but here’s the fucked up part. He tells me that after he found it, he tried to turn it in at the front desk of the library, but the lady told him “I’m busy right now. Just take it.”

Yo, that’s fucked up! Either the SFPL needs to hold a bake sale so they can afford to hire some decent people, or dudes are going to ever-crazier lengths to meet Jane in person. Read on.

[Photo by Carina]

Now that I’d like to see stenciled on a Valencia Street sidewalk.

[Photo by Mike Monteiro]

First, Levi’s opened a shop on Valencia Street. The community had differences of opinion on this matter. One member of the community, a performance vandal named Elle, allegedly wrote some graffiti all over their storefront. And then somehow ended up in court on some kind of charges, and then did some (more) viral marketing work for Levi’s. And Levi’s closed their shop and left Valencia Street.

And now they’re back, pimping their Dockers brand via some ugly typography and a Facebook URL. Reader Sara S. reports:

i saw this illegal marketing on Valencia outside of Modern Times bookstore. I’m pretty sure the City Atty just sued Microsoft for doing the same thing (!).

and disguising it as some sort of anti-establishment political statement?! come-on. “If you wear our boring, kacki pants then you’re not just selling out at your corporate job, but rather, you’re making history?”  or maybe they’re trying to soothe those who are feeling hopeless by making them feel better about their unemployment? deep or not, it’s still criminal acts committed by a corporation in our neighborhood!

I don’t even know where to start. Is some marketing tool at Levi’s going to have to go to jail for this? Or at least court, like Elle? Or maybe Elle is in on it?

In any case, it’s even uglier than Microsoft’s ugly stencil.