Mission Mission

Hey, stop playing an ironic version of “Smoke on the Water” on that oud (it sounds better on the shamisen, anyway). It’s time to take it to the next level and learn to play in Turkish 9/8.

Zambaleta is a new music and dance school on 19th and Florida. The are offering a free five days of music classes in early March. Here’s the scoop:

If you could play all the music in the world, where would you begin? We’re not there yet, but we have put together 50 classes for you to find that one sound you’ve always wanted to make. From March 1st to March 5th, you can come and try any of these classes for free and decide whether you want to go down that one road. So come to one, come to fifty. Bring your friends and your grandmothers. We love to hear you play.

Among the 50 (!) classes being offered next month are:

• DJ I with DJ Lamont Young
• Balkan Brass Ensemble with Gregory Jenkins
• Composing Without Your Brain with Cornelius Boots
• Indian Classical Theory with Gautam Tejas Ganeshan

Check it out, there are a lot more classes for instruments whose names I can’t even begin to pronounce, as well as more exotic stuff like “Blues Guitar”.

(via chartno3)

Remember when you were 13 and tried to make your own motorcycle out of duct tape, aluminum foil, and stuff laying around your backyard? I’d hate to spoil it for the strange bearded dude that works on this thing, but it usually ends in a broken collar bone and a pile of twisted metal.

(Fell and Van Ness)

Your favorite dimly lit music venue Amnesia (Valencia b/t 19th and 20th)  is hosting a great Mardi Gras themed party tonight! They start at 9pm and the cover is $7-10 sliding scale.

Headlining are the California Honeydrops, a smokin’ rhythm and blues band out of Oakland and one of my favorites in the bay area. Opening is Damon and the Heathens, a kick-ass punky soul band. Go for the awesome party; stay for the cheap plastic jewelry.

Vids of these fine bands after the jump.

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Hey, fuck you Bobby Flay. I thought it was jacked up how you jumped up on your cutting board and “raised the roof” after the iron chef competition against Morimoto. Then after you lost, you did it again in Japan on his home turf during the rematch! That time, you knew that knives and cutting boards are sacred to the Japanese. Way to shit on an entire culture, troll.

Flay has been known to strangle Target models while making bro-ey O-faces (dramatization)

Did you know this guy doesn’t even have a high school education? Seriously, he dropped out of HS when he was 17! And get this, he’s being sued by former employees for some shitty labor practices like unfair tip pooling, failure to pay overtime, and refusing to pay legitimate employee incurred expenses! Pretty uncool if you ask me.

This is why you should root for Miguel Escobido from Papalote (24th and Valencia) when he squares off in a burrito battle against Flay on Wednesday’s Throwdown With Bobby Flay. That, and no one makes a better burrito than the Mission (okay, maybe Mexico).

The throwdown airs at 10pm Wednesday 2/17. Set your VCRs. More details here.

(via reader James P.)

16th and Mission BART

What ever happens to these pigeons that get stranded on the lowest level of BART? I can’t imagine that they all are able to find their way out. Do they enter the tunnels only to get smacked by a train? Do they fly into a train and get unwillingly deported to Concord?

Anyone want to set up a benefit for these little guys? We’ll guest bartend!

Oh boy, Mission Minis little cupcake kiosk will have it’s grand opening today at 2pm on 22nd b/t Mission and Capp. Pizza Hacker will be there, because if anything goes great with little cupcakes, it’s pizza.

Oh, and there’s gonna be a bunch of free stuff. Creme Brûlée Cart is giving away 100 free mini creme brûlées (fuck, that word has way too many accent characters). Try not to get trampled.

Reader and artiste Donald Tetto says:

I’m involved in a big group art show of tiny works in a tiny space, The Good Shop at 22nd and Folsom…

Almost all the artists are from the Mission, and I’ll be selling a chapbook of my poems about the Mission at the opening. Great Valentine’s Day gift?! But other artists will be showing small photos, sketches, collages, and so on that are really fantastic.

Details at the facebook event page, and in the flyer:

True to V-day form, Donald adds:

Once you linked to one of my tweets: http://missionmission.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/biker-down/ which was pretty helpful as a cute girl later said to me, “Hey, I saw your tweet on Mission Mission!”

He left out the part where she said, “God that site sucks now, when’s Allan coming back?”

(snapped at Ms. Teriosa’s on 24th and Shotwell)