Denim factory tour, in glorious hi-def

Mission-based world-renowned denim mecca Self Edge may be facing financial troubles thanks to the impending spectre that is Sunday Streets, but they still made time to produce this gorgeous short film about the making of a new run of special denim.

Ever wanted to know how your pants were made? Watch and learn:

Watch these two babes unleash the fury tomorrow night

The Beijing Guitar Duo is playing for FREE tomorrow night, March 23rd at the Community Music Center on 544 Capp.

Watch as they shred circles around your 3 power chords with impeccable classical technique. See what tens of thousands of hours of practice and probable parental abuse can do. I wouldn’t wanna be caught in a hellish guitar duel for my soul with them, that’s for sure. Check ‘em out:

They start at 6pm.

The Mission in watercolor

Local design and technology studio Stamen is probably best known for all of the cool interactive maps they make, like Prettymaps and Crimespotting. They’ve just released a beautiful watercolor basemap to be used with OpenStreetMap data. It’s a great day to be a map nerd.

A look at Ames Alley’s community gallery

There are plenty of art alleys in the Mission, and almost everyone has traversed Clarion and Balmy. But how many of you have heard of Ames Alley?

This charming community gallery is tucked away on Ames Street (slightly west of Guerrero) between 22nd and 23rd. It began a few years ago as part of a neighborhood beautification project, and neighbors have been adding to the display ever since.

A foam-bearded Brian Wilson inhabits one end…

…and a sleepy bluebird proclaims his love for Ames from the other.

Rollerbabies

Possibly the raddest mom ever.

Previously:

Mission Vegan: HerbiScore

The first time I ate at Herbivore, I left deeply skeptical of the enterprise. I ate lunch there with an ex-boyfriend (amicable, but still), on a rainy day between two job interviews (neither of which panned out), so looking back, I probably wasn’t in the best state to be critiquing my cuisine. The space was dark and cold, and the most memorable dish I had fell squarely into the category of mediocre. After that lunch, I made up my mind that the only thing Herbivore had going for it was that it was vegan. I was like, “What is this place even doing here?”

I heard they had revamped their menu lately so I decided to give it another shot.

Started with a small green juice, which was good and, at $3.95, was definitely cheaper than Sidewalk around the corner.  (Though I still like SWJ’s a little better.)

I was in the mood for a simple dinner, so I got a salad and a side of hummus.

The salad had lots of fresh greens and perfectly ripe avocado. Thumbs up.

Now, for my money, Old Jerusalem has the best hummus the Mission has to offer, but this hummus was still very flavorful and it came with these adorable pickle crosshatches:

So, here’s the deal: if you have the time and energy and daylight and sunshine to run around to make your own salad and then pick up juice and hummus from different locations, you can probably get better options.

But Herbivore has everything in one place with friendly, attentive yet not intrusive, and remarkably well-paced service. My server ran outside after me when I left my umbrella inside (I do stuff like that a lot). It’s clean and quiet and reasonably priced and no longer freezing.  It’s exactly the kind of thing I want to eat on a Monday night after a boozy weekend, or after getting off a plane.

Glad I gave it another shot. I’m going back and looking forward to it!

The Lazy Bus

The Lazy Bus

Dolores Park overhaul could face delays because somebody doesn’t like the look of the new bathrooms

SFGate reports:

“The curves work,” said Commissioner Ron Miguel, referring to the shape of the fences above the building.

“But then you throw a box inside it, that doesn’t work,” he added, referring to the sharp edges of the building itself.

This might be a minor detail to some, but for project architects Susan Aitken and Aditya Advani, it means the entire project could be delayed.

Good gravy. Read on.

Weird Fish is back, baby!

Now called Dante’s Weird Fish, the beloved vegan-friendly eatery reopens today, right on schedule. The menu still has all the classics, like the Little B. Stack and the fried pickles. Read all about it here.

[Grub Street SF]

The sky

[via MarcusParcus]