Mission Mission

I guess Padre Serra, a very important figure in the history of California, is going to officially become a saint tomorrow, and local filmmaker Jenni Olson finished her new film about him just in time. It screens at the Roxie this Thursday evening only, and it sounds pretty wild:

A cinematic essay in defense of remembering, The Royal Road offers up a primer on Junipero Serra’s Spanish colonization of California and the Mexican American War alongside intimate reflections on nostalgia, the pursuit of unavailable women, butch identity and Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo — all against a contemplative backdrop of 16mm urban California landscapes, and featuring a voiceover cameo by Tony Kushner.

Co-presented by the San Francisco Film Society and Frameline, and being shown just one day after Pope Francis actually canonizes Junipero Serra, this bold, innovative film from acclaimed San Francisco filmmaker Jenni Olson combines rigorous historical research with lyrically written personal monologue and relates these seemingly disparate stories from an intimate, colloquial perspective to tell a one-of-a-kind California tale. Filmmaker Jenni Olson will be here IN PERSON!! Written & directed by Jenni Olson. Produced by Julie Dorf & Jenni Olson. USA. 2015, 65 mins.

Tickets and more info here.

Because it’s a HELLA important time to register and to vote in San Francisco.

We’re a city that’s picky about our burritos, beers and coffee. We love our parks, our bikes, our dogs and judging people that don’t get to live HERE. And that’s why we need to make ourselves heard on November 3rd, when lots of candidates that decide city-wide policy are up for election — like the Mayor, Sheriff and District Attorney — as well as ELEVEN ballot measures, most of which — you guessed it — deal with housing and development.

We have feelings about EVERYTHING– because we love where we live and we want it to be as kick-ass as possible. So in honor of National Voter Registration Day, register online– it takes less than 3 minutes, for real. However you may feel about the folks in City Hall, registering to vote is step one in letting them know what you think of their job performance on November 3rd.

Helen designed these for ARTCRANK last year, and it’s about to go out of print (probably in advance of Helen’s new design for this year’s ARTCRANK), so get it while you still can.

[via Helen on Tumblr]

They’re possibly the best live band in rock ‘n’ roll right now. Do not miss.

Here’s the official blurb:

If you’re familiar with The Coathangers then you probably know the Atlanta group’s premise. The story goes that four young women decided to start a band for the sole purpose of being able to hang out and play parties. They weren’t going to let the fact that none of them knew how to play any instruments get in the way of their having a good time. The backstory certainly added to the charm of early songs like “Nestle In My Boobies” and “Stop Stomp Stompin’”–songs that resided somewhere between no-wave’s caustic stabs of dissonance and garage rock’s primal minimalism. In the seven years since their formation, The Coathangers have released a slew of records and toured across North America and Europe countless times. The persistence of such a casual endeavor is a testament to the infectious quality of their songs and the electric nature of their unruly live show.

Read more and get tickets here!

This Saturday Pops is celebrating 2 Anniversaries: 79 Years in San Francisco & the 1 Year Anniversary since re-opening with the Music for the Mission line up. For all the people, dogs, staff, musicians, DJs, donors, entertainers who helped make our first year such a success, Pops is hosting a huge 10 HOUR CELEBRATION with 13 resident musicians & DJs. Join the Pops family!

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/304580743067366/

Take a look back at the history of POPS:

The History of Pop’s

Pop’s Clubhouse 2830-32 24th Street

Prior to 1934

Rumor has it that Pops ran the Clubhouse, during Prohibition where alcohol was served but the exact date can’t be confirmed.

However we do have confirmation of him as a bootlegger

1935-1941

Carl Joseph Saxsenmeier AKA: POPS

1941-1947

POPS sold to Jack Pryal

1947-1951

Jerry (POPS) & Jack (Son) O’Connor,

Got married sold the bar. Got divorced opened up the New Hearth on Geary

1951-1957

Charlie Leahy

Sold the bar when he married the daughter of the owners of St. Francis Fountain.

1958-67

“Red” Volkelee/ Vokmeyer , & Albert Beurgelson

1967-82

Bob & Connie Griffin & Jacqueline Griffin

1971

moved to 2800 24th Street

1982-1985

The Castillo Family

1985- 1994

Bradlee J Fitzgerald

Changed the name to Pop’s Bar

1994-2003

Frances Prieto

2003-2014

Malia Spanyol & Harmony Urmston

2014-Present

Michael Spike Krouse & Tom Tierney

Check out this week’s entertainment line up at Pops Bar:

(more…)

Here’s the invite:

The Grand Ole’ Party – A Benefit Show for Broke-Ass Stuart & Tom Temprano

Donald Trump got you down? Ted Cruz have you feeling nauseous? Well ignore all that bad hair and support a couple local politicians who are running for office to show that democracy isn’t dead here in San Francisco.

Stuart Schuffman (aka Broke-Ass Stuart) and Tom Temprano have been huge supporters of music, art and culture here in SF for years and are the type of people we want to see calling the shots in City Hall and at City College. Come see some of the Bay’s best bands on the patio at El Rio and support these two guys in their quest to make San Francisco a better place.

The Grand Ole’ Party – A Benefit Show for Broke-Ass Stuart & Tom Temprano
Saturday, September 19th
Doors @ 2pm
Show 3pm-8pm
El Rio (3158 Mission St @ Precita)
$10-$20 suggested donation

w/ music from
Terry Malts
Planet Booty
Double Duchess
Heartwatch

& Djs
Jamie Jams
Chi Chi

You can learn more about their campaigns & donate even if you cant make it by hopping to their websites –

Stuart Schuffman for Mayor
https://brokeassmayor.nationbuilder.com/

Tom Temprano for College Board
http://www.tomtemprano.com/

RSVP and invite your partisans!

But instead of candy inside, these pinatas are just full of hot air.  BA-DUM-BUM-TISHHHHHHHH

(Thanks Laurie!)

First, a story: Once upon a time I found a box of old paint cans on my sidewalk. Thinking they were my neighbors’, I pushed them over the property line in a huff. The next day, the neighbors had pushed them back. This resulted in a month-long game of retaliatory can-scooting. Neighborly relations reached all-time lows.

Being a pushover (har) I finally thought “screw this” and drove them down to the dump, muttering all the way.

As it turns out, the trip to Recology was a delight. I pulled up the designated paint area and a bunch of guys in lab coats swarmed my car telling me to stay inside. They opened my trunk and quickly removed all the cans, then dumped them into vats with similar colors. Not a minute later, I was handed a receipt and sent off.

On my way out, I noticed a bunch of cool sculptures made from trash lining the surrounding hills. Turns out, they give away the recycled paint and use it for art projects. My conclusion was: Recology rules.

Now, to the point:

Recology has an annual artist-in-residency program, which also rules. Our pal Jenny Odell was lucky (?) enough to get one of the spots this year along with Chris Sollars and Roger Ourthiague.

Jenny is working on a project where she has painstakingly documented the origins, history, and value of trash that she has found in “the pile”. She has archived her findings in a blog and book called the Bureau of Suspended Objects, which will be available at the show. We talked to her a bit about what’s in store.

Mission Mission: So what’s daily life at Recology like?

Jenny Odell: It probably depends on the artist, but for me, a typical day at Recology involves me going into “the pile” with a shopping cart that I fill up with trash and e-waste, trying to maneuver that mini pile (in my cart) back to the studio without it falling over, and then spending the rest of the day in my studio researching those objects…. with occasional breaks to eat the tomatoes in the garden outside. Oh, and I should add that we listen to records we found in the trash on a record player we found in the trash.

MM: What does a piece of trash gotta do to charm its way into your cart?

JO: Hm… it’s hard to say. A lot of stuff I get from the pile sits in purgatory for a long time, and some was never archived. I think whether or not I pick something up, and then whether it gets archived, has less to do with the individual object and more to do with creating an archive (currently 200 objects) that presents a balanced portrait of ‘stuff.’ Ideally it has enough different stuff (old and new, nice and gross, cool/vintage and decidedly uncool, etc.) that an alien could come to earth, look at the archive, and get a sense of “human things.”

MM: You mentioned supplying the studio’s music from the pile. Do you end up using a lot of the other stuff you find?

JO: Yep, although the irony is that I often end up forgetting to archive that stuff — my wireless keyboard, my Apple mouse (connects to my computer as “Laura’s Mouse”), some Nikes, tons of office supplies. Oh, and I recently started using the old (mechanical) Apple keyboard I found. Very satisfying.

MM: Did you see anything particularly horrible in “the pile”?

JO: Once, I saw an abandoned, half-eaten cheeseburger (right next to what ended up being Item 157, 1973 edition of Divine Principle). But otherwise it was mostly just weird smells here and there. Everything in there is so smushed together that sometimes it’s a challenge to even find anything identifiable amidst the construction debris and fragments of things.

MM: What’s your favorite piece of trash in the Bureau?

JO: Right now my favorite piece of trash is the bunch of cassette tapes I found with handmade covers. It’s someone’s music collection from the 90s. I made a YouTube playlist of the albums that I’ve been jamming out to while I get ready for the show.

MM: What’s the grossest piece?

JO: There are several, but one particularly gross piece is a completely destroyed CD drive from 2000 that is covered in what I think is mud.

MM: What’s the oldest piece?

JO: The oldest thing is a 1905 issue of The Modern Priscilla, a women’s magazine containing ads for, among other things, weight gain / bust improvement programs, vibrators, and cures for cocaine addiction. There’s also a bank ledger from 1906!

MM: What’s the strangest piece?

JO: (pictured below) I screamed a little when I opened the box.

MM: Do you have any new opinions about society after digging through its trash?

JO: I don’t know if this is necessarily a new opinion, but it really drives home the idea that there’s no such thing as ‘trash’… just people who want the new version of something and are too lazy to fix it or find a new home for it. Most of the stuff I find still works or just needed one thing fixed. Being at the dump has just made me wonder how differently we might treat objects if it weren’t so easy to get new ones (and have them delivered overnight with Amazon Prime).

Thanks Jenny! Here’s all of the details for how to see the Bureau of Suspended Objects this weekend.

Where
Art Studio at 503 Tunnel Ave.
Environmental Learning Center Gallery at 401 Tunnel Ave.

When
Reception: Friday, September 18, 5-9pm
Reception: Saturday, September 19, 1-3pm
Additional viewing hours: Tuesday, September 22, 5-7pm with gallery walk-through with artists at 6:00pm at 503 Tunnel Avenue

Pro Tip #1: You’ll get the most out of this show if you download a QR reader and this app onto your phone.

Pro Tip #2: There is a “free pile” where the artists have deposited items they didn’t end up using. Apparently, this the main attraction to a dedicated group of dumpster-diving types, so if you’re into that, bring a bag and your best shoving arms.

Despite all the changes ravaging the city, at least we’ve still got our pals Social Studies making new records!  It’s been a while since we heard from these folks, but apparently they were hard at work the whole time crafting sweet, sweet melodies.

Have a listen to the new album here, or do yourself a favor and buy the whole thing here!

Capp Street Crap just published a great story on Marian’s, a longtime neighborhood institution:

Jutting from metal trays atop a display case at Marian’s Apparel, the longtime clothing boutique near gritty 16th and Mission streets, are hundreds of yellow paper cards handwritten with customers’ names, addresses and account balances.

A holdover from the days before department store credit cards, the old school but increasingly challenging account management system may soon go by the wayside. Lately, store owner Joe Anker has been wondering whether the same thing ought to happen to Marian’s too.

Marian’s gave up one of its two storefronts around the beginning of the year because a family member of the landlord’s wants to open a Vietnamese restaurant there. When business was at its best around 2000, Marian’s carried more than double the number of accounts for its mostly Latino and middle-aged clientele. Customers would come in two or three times a month, pay on what they owed, and buy more, Anker said.

Read on for lots more.

[Photo by Google Maps]