Mission Mission

It’s becoming more and more difficult to simply enjoy a fun DJ dance night at a dive bar these days, as the city has been been expanding their crackdown on spots that don’t happen to possess an official cabaret license.  The latest victim is everyone’s favorite crusty watering hole, Pop’s.  So R.I.P. Drop Out, although you can still catch Jackie Sugarlumps at the Makeout Room for her monthly school of soul, Web of Sound.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like this all started when some jerk NIMBY moved across the street from the Attic and started hating on all the fun that people were having dancing to the likes of 2MWMY and Indie Slash, forcing those acts to move on to Amnesia.  Said NIMBY did some research and found out he could stop the music by employing the cabaret license technicality, and it seems that the fun police picked up on that and used it against Cassanova, which now is unable to host DJ’s as well.

Hopefully this is the last dance night to go down, but I have the uneasy feeling that the city is just getting started.  As for Pop’s perhaps they’ll finally just have to finally go all-in on that sports bar concept!

[Photo by Erik Jutras]

What were you doing on the brightest Saturday of the year?

The grand opening is today! The new shop is at 3491 19th Street (at Valencia) in the old Chamalyn space, and they’ll be serving up fresh tea and balls all weekend. Also, the Boba Guys are very awesomely donating all profits from this weekend to Little Brothers SF, a local non-profit that helps the elderly combat loneliness and isolation.

Just in time for Pride, which is just around the corner! And seriously, when was the last time you saw something at the Victoria?

Frameline37 will be showcasing documentaries and narrative features from over 30 countries, and will also be screening films at the Castro Theatre and Rialto Cinemas in Berkeley. Notable films and events in the festival include a film adaptation of Michelle Tea’s Valencia, a retrospective screening of But I’m a Cheerleader, that James Franco-produced documentary on the Armory and Kink.com, another new James Franco project, a spotlight on Queer Asian Cinema, and more.

Here are all of the films screening at the Roxie, and all of the ones at the Victoria. Check out the Frameline37 website for full schedules.

Story time:  My mom is visiting the city this weekend for a teacher’s workshop, and I was racking my brain trying to come up with the perfect Saturday activity we could do that would best embody the spirit of San Francisco, when it suddenly dawned on me…

BICYCLE MUSIC FESTIVAL!  Where else can you find the perfect combination of bicycles, music (being powered and transported by bicycles!), food, and some of the raddest folks in town?  And to top it all off, the meandering route, which begins in Golden Gate Park, winds its way through the city until ending up in a ridiculous, fun-filled afterparty at 22nd and Bartlett (the same spot where the Mission Community Market takes place every Thursday).

Good thing I have an extra bike for mom!  It’s probably going to be even bigger than when the 2010 one temporarily took over Oak Street:

B. Hamilton headlines opens this year’s Phono del Sol party at Potrero del Sol. (Ticket giveaway to come!)

Did you make it to the Needles and Pens 10 Year Anniversary Show last month? (Fun fact: I arrived there in a cop car.) If you missed it, a couple of talented folks over at Inventory Magazine have produced this dreamy video with some of the highlights.

[Thanks, Adam!]

We’re thinking of taking on another editor or two. Know anybody good?

If so, hit me up: allan@missionmission.org

(Oh, and, we could use someone interested in the world of ad sales as well.)

And you end up facedown in the gutter like a bossss:

Bummerdude.

[Photo by Chris Bunting] [Additional reporting by Luke Spray]

I like to give gin a hard time. Don’t really get it, don’t order it much. (Which I guess might preclude me from writing a column called “Drink of the Week” — but I’m only temping.) But, many years ago, my good pal Mike Chino and I were taking a ferry across the bay and I was about to order a beer. “But we’re on a boat!” he exclaimed, “We have to have gins and tonics!”

Mike’s rule stuck with me, and to this day I always order gins and tonics when I’m on a boat. Over the weekend I went with some friends across the bay to Alameda, for brunch at Hobnob and minigolf at Subpar and tiki drinks at Forbidden Island. The brunch drinks at Hobnob (including a coconut margarita) were great, the very complicated tiki drinks at Forbidden Island (including a Scorpion Bowl for four) were great — but there’s just something about sipping those no-frills gins and tonics on the upper deck of the Oakland-Alameda Ferry, the sights and sounds of the San Francisco Bay all around you — we had them both outbound and inbound. Drink of the week!

Drink of the week is brought to you by Poachedjobs.com.