Mission Mission

@missionmission someone's going to finally get the huge VAGINA LUTE sign they've always dreamed of.

— Josh Ellingson (@ellingson) June 25, 2013

Thanks, Josh!

Our pal Lindsey saw Juicy J at last night’s Converse Represent show at Slim’s. Here’s what happened:

To enter, some Converse employees slapped a band with an RFID chip on my wrist, and automated posts were sent to my Twitter account when I walked through the door. The future is now. [link]

Whoa.

[via Adam Lynn]

I mean, there’re a lot of festivals in this town, and there’ve been a lot of unforgettable lineups over the years, but I don’t know that I’ve ever been as excited about anything as much as Phono del Sol‘s one-two punch of Thee Oh Sees and YACHT headlining a festival a few blocks from my house. And B. Hamilton too? C’mon.

Anyhow, who wants to win some tickets? To win, in the comments section below, answer me the following question: What is it about Thee Oh Sees? (They’re my faves, the only band I still really truly fully enjoy seeing live over and over and over, but they’re hard to put into words.) Contest ends one week from right now. Winner will be judged based on merit and awarded a pair of tickets.

(And if you can’t answer the question either and want to just buy tickets, just buy tickets.)

The proof is in the pudding:

Can’t wait for August, when we get a similar service here in SF.

[via Urban Velo]

To make way for condos:

So you might want to head over quick if you wanna salute it one last time.

Also, popular demand was able to force the Pig & Pie folks to keep the Discolandia signage up on their facade; think we can get the condo people to keep the iconic Giant Value letters (as mimicked in the “About” section of Mission Mission’s sidebar) up on theirs?

(Probably not.)

[via Mission Local]

[via Male Awareness Day]

This morning on the way to work I noticed this dude across the train looking up and back down at a notebook and figured he was drawing the train or something. A few minutes later he came up to me and handed me a piece of paper. “I drew a picture of you. Here.”

That was pretty cool. I mean, just a totally random thing to catch me off guard. I dug it, so I took a pic of him with a big grin and a thumbs up and when I got into the office I did a quick sketch. I didn’t have the disadvantage of a moving train though.

Sometimes it’s the little things.

Our pal Stella took all these pics and provided this report:

I got there just for the end of the She’s and didn’t have time to take a photo but they just graduated from high school and were adorably rock and roll. Tamarin was witchy dark and mesmerizing. Metz surprised me the most and fucking rocked hard core and totally brought it. They kicked ass. DIIV was awesome. They are the most adorable rock stars. Zachary Cole Smith is like a mix of Link from Zelda and The Little Prince, such a babe. Also the music was rad. Black Rebel Motorcycle club was pretty cool too though their light show made me dizzy.

Thanks, Stellz!

You’ve probably seen the panoramic photos of downtown and South of Market that George Lawrence took by kite immediately after the earthquake and fire of 1906. (all via the Library of Congress):

I’d never seen this one though — it was taken above Twin Peaks, looking towards downtown and the Mission. (At 2000 feet, Lawrence’s kite was about as high as Sutro Tower is today.)

Zoom in on the Mission:

Zoom and enhance:

The fire swept mercilessly into the Mission before it was halted at 20th St, thanks to the magic Golden Hydrant.

Here’s what 20th & Valencia looked like on the ground:

More shots available at OldSF.

Here’s how much of the city burned.

As the fire swept into the Mission, things were not looking good.

Engine 27 was joined by Engine 19 as they responded to the magic hydrant. Or rather, they tried to. Their exhausted horses were unable to muster enough strength to pull the massive Metropolitan steam engines up Dolores Street.

The refugees in the park, seeing this, responded themselves – by the hundreds. Hands pulled ropes as shoulders pushed forward, propelling the magnificent steamers up to Twentieth Street. Now, firefighters could make their stand, but the firefighters were few and exhausted, and nobody knew how long the water would hold out.

Again the volunteers, under the direction of the firefighters, went to work. The line was to be drawn on Twentieth Street.  Buildings to the North were torn down to slow the conflagration and deprive it of fuel. On the South side, the alarm was raised as citizens prepared to defend their property and that of others.

When the advancing inferno reached the Twentieth Street line, over 3000 civilians and a handful of firefighters stood shoulder to shoulder to meet it. The fight was described as “Hell itself”.

The titanic battle lasted seven hours.

Hoses were used.  Mops and buckets were used. Behind the fireline, homeowners were on their roofs beating out sparks and small fires with blankets, mops, casks of wine - anything that could be used. Doors from the demolished houses were used as heat shields until they too began to smolder. Exhausted firefighters would drop in their tracks, as volunteers took to their lines.  Nurses moved through, administering stimulants. Through the night, the fight raged.

As dawn approached, the flames began to subside.  By 7:00 AM on Saturday, the fight was over, the flames gone. With the exception of some small pier fires, the nightmare was over. Rebuilding could begin tomorrow, but today was for savoring the effort – and the victory.

Think of that next time you’re drinking PBR at Dolores Park.