Mission Mission

The Phenomenauts are a space-themed rock and roll band from Earth’s capital: Oakland, CA.

When I teen, I played in a local touring ska band. One night we pulled up to some random shithole–I don’t know, the Tiki Wagon Tavern in Willits, or something. As I tried to process the fact that a total of seven people were likely to show up, our drummer glanced at the flyer and squealed, “Oh my God, we’re playing with THE PHENOMENAUTS tonight! They are AWESOME.”

Since then, I have probably seen the Phenomenauts more than any other band, partly because I ended up living with a couple of them for a few years. Their live show has to be seen to be believed. Try to imagine 3 guys and a robot in starship uniforms playing loud, catchy rock and roll while bombarding you with a toilet paper gun and simulated rocket exhaust.

Anyways, their act is clearly prime material for a comic book, so they went ahead and made one and paired it with a brand new EP. There is a launch party at Mission Comics and Art this Saturday from 5-7pm. You can grab the book, and catch the a stripped-down lounge version of the band. After that, be sure to catch their full-on live show at El Rio at 9pm.

Not only did this fellow manage to park on the corner, but he also found a way to block a fire hydrant as well.

Kudos, sir.

One of the squeaky-clean kids over at Mission Loc@l dressed up in his Sunday best and showed up filming of Kink.com’s “Public Disgrace”, a groundbreaking independent web video series.

Here’s a snippet:

“Let’s review the rules,” she says into a bullhorn from the center of the circle.

In more explicit language, she says that if you plan to participate, please wash your hands.

“The bathroom is over there,” she adds.

She looks back down at her list of rules.

“That’s it.”

The crowd laughs. I gulp.

Eventually, he caught on:

I’m getting it now: Kink.com is filming a porno/sex party, and we are the extras. I knew from the release form that there would be cameras at the event, but I now understand that this is really part of an adult video shoot, and the guests are the public part of the “public disgrace.”

How precious.

Read on, and if you watch the episode later, keep your eye out for a dude in a wool suit holding a notepad.

[photo, story via Mission Loc@l]

As most of you know, BART busker Jesse Morris tragically passed away on Sunday. To help his family with the cost of his memorial, Different Fur Studios is releasing never-before-heard sessions of an unfinished country album Jesse began recording in 2008. The compilation, entitled “I Wanna Take It All Back,” is available for download with a suggested donation of $5.

Nic Pope, an engineer at Different Fur and a friend of Jesse’s, wrote in to share the following anecdote:

I met Jesse in the Montgomery St. Bart Station where I heard him doing his Johnny Cash covers and we got to talking. The first project we worked on together was for his punk band U.S. Kings and “I Wanna Take It All Back” was the second which we never finished. The frank and simple way Jesse could describe your darkest feelings is what drew me to his music originally. From the title track, “I look around and see the wreckage of my past, its bad enough sometimes I wanna douse myself in gas,” is one line of his that helped me grow up a bit in the last couple of years.

Preview the album here, and please consider making a donation.

UPDATE: Plus, there’s a benefit show tonight in Oakland!

There’s that perch at Bender’s where if you’re sitting in a chair facing the wall, behind you are a couple of steps down to the main floor — meaning if you scoot backward, you will fall backward. Caryn did just that last night, but like a champ she popped right back up, unscathed.

A Bender’s employee came over and applauded her aplomb, and said that Caryn was the first person in five years to take that tumble. But I’m not sure I buy it. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen others do it too, but I never really trust my memory when it comes to Whiskey Wednesday.

In this pic you can see the leg of Caryn’s chair pointing ceilingward, and Caryn’s head (I think) upright like it weren’t no thang:

Everyone’s got stories to tell, but sometimes the people with the most interesting ones don’t have a way to tell them, or perhaps don’t even know that they can.  Enter Streetside Stories, a Mission-based non-profit that’s doing some amazing work with local kids.  Check out the video to see if it’s something with which you might want to get involved.

Southpaw BBQ, finally set to open tomorrow, had an “Industry Night” soft opening on Monday. I was able to try their pulled pork shoulder that you could throw on a slider and mix with a bunch of sauces, as well as some of their house-made blue cheese chips.

Sorry about the constant posting about ping pong parties, but ping pong parties are THE BEST. And it’s especially hard not to post when their flyers contain such things as epic photography by Corntard and the news that this week’s guest DJ is the one and only Wesley Frazee!

Plus, this Friday is 11-11-11, and American Tripps promises (as you can see) a “special surprise at 11:11.” Can’t wait!

RSVP and invite your friends!

Also, pictures from last week’s epic block party are up on Facebook. And it’s a notable photo album because this was the first time the event took place at venues other than the Secret Alley. Here are a shot of the party and a shot of the after party:

View the whole album here. (Tag yourself, tag your friends!)

Watching you on Valencia Street.

[Photo by Eric] [via Poly Cinco]

This is James. James got pupnapped from the SF SPCA by some pupnappers yesterday afternoon! And what’s worse, he was scheduled to go home to a new family yesterday evening! Here are some details on the culprits:

The SF SPCA has video footage of the criminals, who can be described as a Latino couple in their mid-30′s that were accompanied by a child. The man is approximately 5′ 7″, heavy-set, with spiky black hair and a short beard. The woman was approximately 5′ 6″, thin, with dark hair. They were accompanied by a 4 – 6 year old boy with dark hair. The group was driving an older white Sedan, possibly a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry.

Read on for more salient info, and please keep your eyes peeled.

UPDATE: James is back, and fine. Details forthcoming, hopefully.