Mission Mission

They have authentic German-style picnic tables instead of big dumb American picnic tables, which is nice. The bathrooms are really nice, which is nice. Beer comes in big ol’ steins (or little steins if you’re a pussy), which is nice. The horseradish is some of the best we’ve ever had, which is nice.

It’s nice during the day, and it’s nice after dark:

Overall it’s pretty nice.

Just a couple of problems:

1. Discrimination. On the way out, the gatekeeper offered to remove our wristbands. I was in a hurry so I said no thanks, and then he shouted after me, “Just don’t throw ‘em on the ground around here. You can throw ‘em on the ground when you get back to the Mission.” What! How’d he know?
2. Pronunciation. Nobody seemed to know how to pronounce “Suppenküche” (the name of Biergarten’s parent company) right. Here’s how you don’t do it:

How not to pronounce ‘Suppenküche’ by Allan Hough

3. Violence. See for yourself:

But overall it’s pretty nice.

[All media in this post produced by Vic Wong.]

Ann Magnuson! Performing as David Bowie! This Thursday evening at SFMOMA! SFMOMA explains:

Magnuson is a performance artist, musician, and actress who defined 1980s downtown New York, marked college radio with her band Bongwater, and has graced everything from TV to Hollywood blockbuster thrillers. In her new tribute cabaret, she nods to Bowie with a song cycle of his early 1970s work. With musical direction by Kristian Hoffman, the performance gains power as Magnuson embodies Jobriath, the only openly gay star of the glam rock revolution. The performance also will incorporate dreams, Jung, human sacrifice, Aztec shamanism, and all things dark, bloody, and beautiful. Also, Blue Bottle Coffee and SFMOMA continue their BANQUET series on the Rooftop Garden.

Read on for costume contest details and more, and then RSVP and invite your friends!

To win tickets, tell us in the comments below why you love Ann Magnuson OR David Bowie. Most compelling entrant, based on merit, wins a pair of tickets to the party. Contest ends tomorrow (Wednesday, October 26, 2011) at noon.

[via Carlos]

[via Bob Horowitz' Flickr]

Are you South Asian? Our friend Amit Gupta might need some of your sweet brown bone marrow. Are you not South Asian? Chances are someone else needs your bone marrow too.

To put the odds into perspective, if you need a bone marrow transplant and you’re caucasian, the chances are 8 in 10 that you’ll find a suitable match. If you’re Indian, it’s more like 1 in 20,000. Help Amit and others smash those odds by stopping by Project One tonight and submitting a sample. All you have to do is fill out some paperwork and swab the inside of your cheeks with a Q-tip. Bring your brown friends!

Project One is at 251 Rhode Island St. and the event goes from 7-10:30pm.

A handful of Dolores park patrons anxiously awaiting their turn to use the generously-provided porta-potties situated at the 19th Street entrance were temporarily inconvenienced this past weekend when the cleaning crew stopped by at around 5pm to give the units a bath.  Some waiting in line were outraged that the cleaning would be scheduled at such an obvious high-usage time and that shouldn’t the city know better, but you know what?

I’m so happy that they clean those things every single day that I don’t give a shit (no pun intended) when they do it.  Personally, I’m still amazed that the porta-potties still sometimes smell springtime fresh whenever I enter, a fact that I commented on way back when they were installed.  If it means that a line full of entitled folks has to wait a little longer, so be it!  And seriously, the dude was only cleaning one of them at a time, which still left 5 others perfectly vacant.

Keep up the great bathroom cleaning work!

Previously:

Park porta potties pretty perfect

[via The Tens]

(Thanks, @katchatters!)

Check it out: Danny Bowien from Mission Chinese Food was recently on Martha Stewart. I hope that he later invited one of those Lung Shan old-timers in the back out to demonstrate how to stuff a dumpling.

[via YMFY]

American Tripps is back after a monthlong hiatus, and there are two big reasons you DO NOT want to miss this edition:

1. To kick off Halloween weekend right, the party is eschewing techno for one night only to masquerade as a SOUL NIGHT, featuring DJ Wam Bam Ashleyanne (who you might remember TOTALLY ROCKED last Friday’s Oldies Night at the Knockout).
2. This event is your first opportunity to set foot inside The NEW AND IMPROVED Secret Alley. The crew spent all of October on a rad remodel. Nobody knows quite what to expect, but if you’ve been inside before, you know it can only get more impressive.

Plus, I hear Kreayshawn and Dolly Parton are both gonna be there. RSVP and invite your friends!

ALSO, the Friday after that (November 4th) is yet another very special American Tripps event, The American Tripps Berlin-Style Ping Pong Block Party. More details soon.