Mission Mission

Goes good with this jam:

Ride your bike more.

[via Burrito Justice on Tumblr]

I’m sure by now everyone knows, WesBurger n’ More has been kinda open for a couple weeks, and it’s awesome, and the space is awesome, and the Cauliflower Wedge is a surprise hit… but what you don’t know is, as of tomorrow’s grand opening, there will be a very special burger on the menu for grand opening week only: The Mission Burger.

Here’s Wes putting the finishing touches on a test batch earlier this afternoon:

What’s all on ‘em? Here’s what:

• refried beans
• verde salsa
• cilantro and pickled jalapeno crema
• shredded lettuce
• smashed avocado
• jack

And optionally (and most importantly):

• LENGUA BACON

Full disclosure: Wes is a pal, and he asked me to consult on what exactly a “Mission” burger should be, and I was like, “It should probably be kind of like a lengua super burrito from Cancun at 2:30am.” We both pondered for a second how to implement the lengua part, and simultaneously blurted out, “LENGUA BACON.” (Because, as the old saying goes, great minds think similarly when it comes to matters of lengua.)

Anyway, the lengua bacon is so fucking good. Start lining up now. Grand opening is tomorrow.

Here’s me tucking in:

And here’s a much more pro photo of the thing, on Wes’s computer:

And here’s the lengua bacon in action (be sure to push play):

Sizzlin' lengua bacon 👅👅👅👅👅

A video posted by Allan Hough (@punkgirls) on Apr 5, 2016 at 4:29pm PDT

Keep up the good work, Wes! Thanks for lunch!

By local comics artist Carlos Bergfeld:

Help Bernie here, and get tickets to the new Captain American movie at Alamo Drafthouse here.

[link]

Yummmmm. Homemade by our pal Gareth Spor using pistachio butter, hazelnut butter, cashew butter and blackberry jam, all from Mission institution Rainbow Grocery.

[link]

Now please enjoy all these other toast posts…

With a little help from DJ Purple of course. Watch:

Seriously, how awesome is that, performing YOUR OWN SONG at karaoke? (Great backing vocalist back there too.)

Now please read my review of “Love Both Sides” (the song in question) from a few weeks back.

[Editor's note: This is actually my event, so the Pop's folks let me write the blurb. Please enjoy...]

Sooo, what’s “Berlin-style ping pong night” mean anyway? Well it’s three things…

1. It happens in the evening, in a dark, friendly neighborhood bar, where the booze is flowing and the party vibes are strong
2. There are DJs spinning upbeat danceable jams, both familiar and unfamiliar
3. The ping pong is a little different, played in a social and casual and kinda trippy way that allows 20+ people to take part

Here’s an animated GIF of that last one:

Tonight will be just like that except there’s a lot less room at Pop’s, so the circle is much tighter — and thus it’s much easier to make new friends

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

(more…)

Local film historian David Enos tells us all about it:

In the movie “Howard the Duck”, Howard and his human girlfriend are in a taxi which turns left at this intersection on 9th Avenue. It cuts away just as they round the corner. If you were to make the same left, you’d find these two side-by-side businesses.

Read on for a couple of important questions and some other startling news.

This show had me at two words “Sean Hayes” (I’m a big Will and Grace fan). I actually didn’t know much about the show going in, so it was fun to learn that the writer David Javerbaum was a head writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and started the twitter account @TheTweetOfGod which has over 2 million followers. Since Brittany couldn’t make it to this one, I turned it into a date night. I mean there is nothing more romantic to me than entertainment about how ridiculous religion can be!

Katie: Okay…the writer has to be an atheist, right?

Garrett: I don’t know, but now I’m even more of an atheist. I thought the show was freaking brilliant.  Sean Hayes was perfect. I don’t think many other actors could pull this off. His energy was so good, he made it really come to life.

K: Totally! Such a difficult show to do. It’s not easy to pull off pretty much a one man show, I mean the two angels roles were so minimal that barely counts. It’s great they kept it to 90 minutes, that format really couldn’t be a minute longer. The story was good for that length of time. Towards the end it was losing some steam, and I feel like the jokes were about to get old. But it kept my attention and it ended right when it needed to end.

G: I think it lost steam for me at a couple different points but not for very long and it picked up each time. I liked that it had a lot of topical and local humor and it was a combination of really specific current topics but with the broader scope of human existence, god and earth and all that fun stuff. And I liked how the actors played off the audience a little bit, making it feel like an improv show…really fun. And “God” even broke character temporarily to mock a group of people walking in late to the show. Awesome.

K:  With a one man show like this, I think that format of interacting with the audience made us feel like they were having a conversation with God. And by bringing in the audience it made us more present. I feel like if that character didn’t bring in the audience I don’t think it would have been as compelling. That format made us feel like we were all hanging out with Sean Hayes having a conversation.

G: Definitely. I would have to say this is the best one man show I’ve ever seen.

The Verdict: This is a really smart show and super entertaining. Must be open minded. The existence of God is always a sticky subject, but this format and acting style was wonderfully silly and successful.

The Drama Talk: The main character (Sean Hayes) doesn’t move much from the couch in the middle of the stage but his energy and range as an actor made this story come to life.  As with all SHN shows the technical aspects of this show, though simple, were amazing. The set never changed but the lighting, sound effects, and use of video were on point.

The Drinks: This is a show that we recommend going into a little loose. We had a couple of classy (expensive, yet strong) drinks before the show at the theater. Then afterward we wanted to take that class down a notch (or 10) and went down a few blocks to one of our favorite dive bars the Tempest.

An Act of God runs through April 17th at the Golden Gate Theater. Tickets are available through the SHN website and range from $75-$150. Right now there are tickets on Goldstar from $55-$70. Also, take note that a limited number of $40 Rush tickets will be available for every performance beginning 2 hours prior to curtain at the SHN Golden Gate Theatre Box Office. Tickets are subject to availability. Cash only. 2 per person.

Once on a road trip back from Yosemite, Brittany and friends Chad and Thais got on the subject of musical theater. During the course of that conversation the lesser known 1930s Rodgers and Hart musical, The Boys from Syracuse, came up as a topic. Brittany had never heard of it. Chad had it on his iPod. The inevitable happened and the car filled with show-tunes.

One of the passengers was not a musical theater fan, so after a couple songs a new DJ was appointed, but Brittany was intrigued. She knew the songs and recognized the plot (it’s a musical retelling of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors), but she didn’t know the show. When she found out there was a production of The Boys from Syracuse happening at Eureka Theater, she knew she had to take Chad and Thais with her for a night of Drama Talk and Drinks.

Brittany: Thanks for joining me for Drama Talk and Drinks, what did you think of the show?

Thais: I loved it, I thought it was a blast.

Chad: I thought it was fun. I love music from the 1930s. It’s jazzy, brassy and just fun.

T: The performances were fun too.

B: I liked three leading women in particular (Abby Haug, Elise Youssef, and Erin Yvette). The guys…some of them were better than others.

T: The guys who played Antipholus looked like James Franco.

B: That’s so true! They looked exactly like a taller James Franco.

C: They didn’t really stand out to me. “This Can’t Be Love” didn’t sound the way I expected it to sound. It should be more romantic. I know it’s a farce, but they didn’t take the time for a more serious moment.

T:  I loved the two Dromios though! The choreography, the references to Groucho Marx. It was hilarious.

B: The Dromios were great, but I agree with Chad on the love songs. I was hoping for more love. These songs are such Broadway songbook classics, even though the show isn’t necessarily that well known, they come with certain expectations. Also I could have done without the dance breaks.

C: You can only see a grapevine so many times. They were having a good time though, which made it enjoyable to watch.

T: The women’s voices were lovely too.

C: “Sing for Your Super” was the stand-out song of the show. It made my night.

The Verdict: If you’re a fan of Rodgers and Hart and the Great American Songbook, you’ll probably enjoy this show. It’s got some great voices, fun songs, and great energy. If traditional musical theater makes you want to pull the car over and scream, skip it.

The Drama Talk: 42nd Street Moon, the company behind this show, is committed to restoring, preserving and producing rarely performed musicals. The Boys from Syracuse is one such ‘lost classic’, typical of 1930s American musical theater, when the genre was in it’s hey-day. If you know Rodgers and Hart’s music, you’ve heard some of the songs in this show, you likely just didn’t know where they came from.

It’s possible part of the reason the show has been lost is the overtly sexist messages throughout the show. The idea of women singing for their supper is more than a little regressive now. But just like those awkward things your grandparents sometimes say, it’s a product of its time, so you feel like you can’t blame the musical. The three female leads are incredibly talented. The costumes are great. It’s generally a fun time.

The Drinks: Opening night started early and ended early, so we needed to get dinner and drinks after the show. Although Kokkari across the street would have technically been more fitting, since the show is set in Greece, we didn’t have $100 to drop, so we went to Osha on the Embarcadero. The sweet drinks and the bright colors seemed a fitting end to a technicolor Broadway “forgotten classic”.

The Boys from Syracuse runs through April 17th at the Eureka Theater. Shows are Wednesdays & Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 6pm and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets are available through the 42nd Street Moon website, and range from $22-$75, but Eureka theater is small enough, it really doesn’t matter where you sit for the show.