Mission Mission

Personally, I prefer to travel via dinosaur or warp whistle.

[via Joshing Uno, prints available!]

Here’s something you might not know: the cartoon biz as of late is no stranger to Mission/Bay Area talent.

Take Bob’s Burgers, for example. Do those Mission-style Victorian buildings in the background art look familiar? That’s because they were designed by local artist Sirron Norris. The character design in the show was done by none other than Jay Howell.

Regular Show, a hilarious Cartoon Network show about a couple of 23-year-old dudes who are also animals, features the writing/storyboarding talent of local indie comics darlings Hellen Jo, Calvin Wong (my bro!), and Minty Lewis (additional voice talent)! I have it on relatively shaky authority that pages of Mission Mission may have been source material for the cutting-edge fashions in this episode:

More recently, Jay Howell has announced his own show on Nickelodeon called Sanjay and Craig… with and additional Mission bonus: music by thee Oh Sees!! Check out the awesome promo for it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7nP1p7MARw

Granted most of these jerks have moved to LA to, you know, actually make a career out of art. Zinefest doesn’t pay the bills. Still, let’s take every opportunity to claim all the credit for their talent just like Modesto tries to do with George Lucas.

Tierra Mia Coffee, a southern California-based coffee shop, is moving into the Mission and Valencia storefront formerly known as Caffeinated Comics and more recently the short-lived Way Out Cafe. It seems well-loved in LA, but running a cafe in that location has so far bombed. We’ll see if they can overcome that curse and San Francisco’s general coffee snobbery.

Personally, I’m not interested in any coffee beans that haven’t passed through the digestive tract of an Asian palm civet.

We love rad maps of San Francisco, and here’s one I haven’t seen before: “Secret Histories Map of San Francisco“. It’s so rad, in fact, that we will excuse the unfortunate misspelling ”Delores Park”.

A note from the artist Deth P. Sun, who debuted this piece in 2009:

Marci and I and a bunch of other friends were asked by the San Francisco Arts Commission to make work around the theme of “Trace Elements”. The idea around “Trace Elements” or what I took from it was how people don’t know about the history of things that they might pass by on the street, or how things got to where they were at and how things might have been forgotten (yeah, like Frodo and the Ring, only not). So I thought I’d make a Secret Map of San Francisco.

On the site, there are a lot of close-ups and more detailed information, some which you might know (Golden fire hydrant!) and some that you might not (the fortune cookie was invented here!). Give yourself an hour to take it in this afternoon.

I guess this begs the question: where can we score a print?

[DethPSun via Emily Heller]

There, that should keep the 4-year olds from messin’ with your ride, and as a bonus you don’t have to carry it into the corner store and look like a total dweeb. Win win.

[via da lah]

The Tens is having his first photo show tonight in a very unlikely location: Supervisor Jane Kim’s office at City Hall room 282, from 4:30-6:30pm. If you have followed his tumblr or seen his work posted here, it’s probably safe to say you’re a fan. He’s been delighting the internet with his tasteful renderings of Fox Plaza for years. Brian also happens to be a civic-minded law-guy, so 30% of the proceeds will be going to the AIDS Legal Referral Panel.

Here’s a snippet from Chris Perez‘ statement on this show and The Tens’ work:

[The Tens'] photographs capture the loneliness and despondency that the city can so easily disguise with its majestic views, romantic architecture, and urban redevelopment. Brian not only sees the stark harshness of the city, but also the uneasy isolation that seems to swallow everyone here at some point in their lives. Over the years I’ve certainly been visited by this loneliness. It follows you from corner to corner, street to street, and it is a chill that is hard to shake. It makes you want to retreat from not only the city but also from yourself. In San Francisco, a person can easily vanish into the fog or slip between the cracks in the broken sidewalks of any neighborhood.

So basically it’s a light-hearted show bound to be full of laughs and whimsy and you should go. Besides, ever wonder how many people can fit in a city Supervisor’s office? There’s only one way to find out.

More details on facebook.

[photos via the Tens]

We are testing online ordering tonight at MCF San Francisco. Give it a try if you were thinking about ordering. missionchinesefood.com/sf

— Mission Street Food (@Missionstfood) January 30, 2013

My pro tip with Mission Chinese has always been to go for lunch or order takeout to avoid that 2-hour horribly disorganized wait-list BS. Well starting tonight you’ll be able to place your order online here. Hell, they will even deliver orders over $20.

Go ahead, slam them with more traffic and convince them it was a bad idea.

Update: I think they meant Thursday night. Mission Chinese is closed Wednesdays, as several commenters pointed out.

I think we have a serious contender to the legendary Slime Time van.

Next time you’re in the Cesar Chavez and Precita area, please take ten minutes to take in all the incredible things happening on this automobile which, at the bare minimum, can be referred to as the “9/11 Tupac Freedomn van”, but may also be called the “Mushroom pedobear Jesus heart of gold van”:

[click for larger version]

Update 2/1: For more about the sordid nature of this van, head over to Jezebel.

In case you haven’t heard, the Mission’s iconic Giant Value building is closing and being converted into “market-value” condos. Here’s what they will look like, next to the forthcoming renovation of the New Mission Theater:

[via Kwan Henmi Architecture]

Otto Venta recently snapped some shots from the current interior:

Over the past couple of weeks they have been liquidating their stock at 50% off, including the following near-luxury fragrances:

[photo via Chirp]

Even though I’ve only set foot in the building a handful of times, I’ve always admired the huge block letters on their facade and intimidating selection of 1970s deadstock goods at reasonable prices. What’s it going to be like in a post-Giant Value world? Will our children’s values not be as giant? Will the boxy condos stay true to the spirit of their ancestors and offer affordable housing? (Not-fucking-likely)

Check below for some of Mission Mission’s Giant Value posts over the years. And what the hell, if Giant Value meant anything to you, please share your fondest or worst memories in the comments. Maybe you picked up a bottle of BOOS cologne and it sealed the deal on a first date you were nervous about. Perhaps you remember how devastated the community was when they switched the words from “VALUE GIANT” to “GIANT VALUE”. Or how about that time Apple maps took you there when you were really trying to find the SF Giants ballpark?

Selected comments will be printed on a commemorative plaque to be installed in the sidewalk in front of the building. (Not-fucking-likely)

Seen her? Help restore this complicated relationship.

[via sfhaps]

Update:

Apparently, this guy wasn’t as charmed by her cuteness:

[via Mission Loc@l]