Mission Mission

Love that Wam Bam! (Ping Pong Nite is: “2 ping pong tables, soul DJs, every Thursday at El Rio, 9-midnight, free.”)

RSVP and invite your friends!

American Tripps says summer starts this weekend, and I really don’t think we can argue:

For our first Berlin-style ping pong party of the summer, we figured we better make a real splash. So we got a *rad new venue*, 19 Heron, and for music we’ll have the return of DJ JustStella, spinning sunny summery psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll.

19 Heron is a dance studio by day, so there are mirrors along all the walls, a big hangar door in the front, floors great for dancing, areas to sit and lounge. And it’s down a trippy alley that we’ll have all lit up (for both safety and radness).

BONUS: World-renowned street photographer THE TENS (http://thetenssf.com/) will be in charge of party photography all night, so look your best!

Summer! Rock ‘n’ roll! Rad new venue! The Tens! RSVP and invite your friends!

What’s the deal with this new venue? Looks like it’s down a cool little alley near 8th and Harrison:

And inside it’s a disco!

To win a pair of tickets, tell us your best ping pong-related tale in the comments section below. Contest ends Thursday at 6pm. Winner will be judged based on merit.

Well, this sounds pretty delicious:

1st Annual Best Tamale Contest

Help us find the best tamale in the Mission, and help Marshall Elementary School at the same time!

Marshall Elementary School is hosting the first annual Día de los Niños Tamale Contest. For $20, you get to sample the full variety of tamales offered by our Mission-based tamale chefs – the parents of Marshall Elementary School students and our Mission neighbors – all while enjoying the live entertainment and festivities.

The chef judged as creating the best tamale receives $500. The rest of the money will help the Marshall Elementary PTA fund areas that are not covered in the school budget, to include (but not limited to) technology for the classrooms, science-based field trips in support of the school’s innovative Oceans Month program, and funding for organized team games and peer leadership during outdoor play.

The tamale tasting takes place from noon to 2pm on Saturday, April 27th at Marshall Elementary – 1575 15th Street, San Francisco (enter on Capp Street). For more information and to purchase advance tickets, visit besttamalesf.org.

Welcome to the “Drama Talk & Drinks” number three. This time our friends Katie Cruz and Brittany Janis went to see a burlesque show at the place that replaced the place that came after the place that was named for Frank Chu. Here’s their report:

[photo via Balançoire on Facebook]

It was Brittany’s birthday last Thursday, and we were looking for a place to get drinks. We heard that a new bar and performance venue was opening in what was most recently The Blue Macaw on Mission, Balançoire: “A full service restaurant, bar and nightclub featuring a French/Creole inspired menu, two dance floors and bars & a performance stage perfect for a variety of events”. The 18th was opening night, and their in house Burlesque company, Le Chat Roux, was performing. Since nothing says birthday more than pasties and tassels we had a bunch of friends meet us there for after-dinner drinks and, of course, drama talk.

Brittany: So I want to start off saying, I did have fun. Anytime you get a big group of friends together to drink, dance, and watch ladies take off their clothes it ends up as a good night.

Katie: True, but if I wasn’t with our group of friends I would have been like “WTF”. The place doesn’t quite have a clear identity yet. The inside had a poorly thought through chair and table layout, cheesy strobe lights, and bad music…something was just really off about the vibe. It also would have been great if they had a cocktail waitress.

B: I’m sure part of it was opening night jitters, but in burlesque the taking off of the clothes is the show. Instead, a few of these girls just danced all cray and at the very end were like “oh shit, guess I need to take this dress off” then they struggled with the zipper, pulled it off super quick, and then bounced up and down with their tassels twirling in a panic because their music had already ended.

K: The only performer who I really liked was Eva D’Luscious – she really rocked those large white fans of plumage.

B: I’m just happy I avoided getting birthday spanks, unlike the other birthday party that was there. Although the hostess Kittie Von Tittie was actually really fun, so I would have let her spank me.

K: I think our friend August said it best: “The show wasn’t amazing but I fully support courage in all it’s forms, especially if it could potentially piss off a republican”.

The Verdict: We probably wouldn’t go again, but if you have a big group and need a place to go that will provide plenty of space and some sort of entertainment then keep this place in mind. We can’t speak to the food but the menu was limited and definitely not cheap ($20-$28 range). Hopefully this place pulls it together, but due to it’s current bizarre atmosphere, bad drinks, and mediocre service we wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t last very long.

The Drama Talk: If you want to see girls struggle to take off their clothes, make sure you sit close to the stage. The space is oddly structured at the moment so the stage view is blocked to most of the bar by a row of tall bar tables.

The Drinks: BAD, but at least for cheap for opening weekend. A gin gimlet is not served in a pint glass on the rocks, enough said.

Balancoire just completed their Grand Opening Weekend, but they have lots of events on the horizon. Check out their Facebook Page for the latest.

DJ Tristes Tropiques, of the Mission-based Haçeteria crew, is one of the most talented and versatile DJs I know, so I’m pretty sure this is gonna rule. From American Tripps‘s official invite:

For this edition of our monthly party in the Lower Haight, we asked DJ Tristes Tropiques (Haçeteria SF) to put together a Manchester-themed set (featuring New Order, the Smiths, the Fall, and other acts from those heady dayz).

RSVP and invite your friends!

Welcome to the second installment of “Drama Talk & Drinks”, a new feature here on Mission Mission. Our friends Katie Cruz and Brittany Janis go see a local show, then they go to a bar, get drinks, and talk about it. Here’s their report:

[pic by Katie Cruz]

Rumor had it something funny was going on under Lost Weekend Video. Last year they opened The Cinecave in their basement, and now they’re hosting a variety of awesomeness, including some of SF’s funniest. Last Saturday we decided to check out their Cynic Cave Comedy Show featuring Bucky Sinister, Shanti Charan, Red Scott, Kelly Anneken and Miles K hosted by George Chen and Kevin O’Shea. Here’s our drama talk:

Brittany: The host (Kevin O’Shea) was awesome! I loved that he started with “This is the most fun you are going to have in a basement in 2013” because I think that is true. I haven’t had that much fun in a basement in a while.

Katie: I definitely didn’t feel lied to, which is always nice. Shockingly good for $10.

(more…)

Storytelling radio show and podcast, The Moth, has been bringing its live show to cities across the country and now has a monthly series at The Rickshaw Stop. They invited us to check out the first one, which we gladly did.

The theme of the night was SECRETS, which seemed a little broad and obvious for this kind of storytelling series, but the participants came up with some great things to share and host Dan Kennedy held it all together with playful banter in between. Everyone who came in had the option to put their name into a bag at the beginning, and then were selected at random to come up and tell their stories. So the night was a literal grab bag of performances. The range happened to work out really well. Some stories were just okay, worthy of a polite clap for being willing to get up there and do it, and some pretty much knocked me on my ass. The thing they all had in common for me was a real feel of sincerity, no matter how earnest or sarcastic the tone was, which made them relatable and hard to dismiss.

The stories are given number ratings by teams of audience judges which are then added up at the end to pronounce a winner. After ten of these live shows, called the SLAMS, the winner from each will compete in the GrandSLAM Championship. In my opinion, Cory Rosen told the overall best story that night, and the judges agreed with me.

I got to interview the Producer of The Moth, Jennifer Hixson, and the Host, Dan Kennedy (author of Rock On: An Office Power Ballad), backstage just following the show, which was really an adrenaline-fueled fun and fast paced candid conversation:

Mission Mission: I’m not a journalist, just a blogger, I have no ethics or scruples.

Jennifer Hixson (Moth Producer): Oh, even more frightening! (keeps riffing for a while)

MM: I wish I didn’t have questions, this is great!

Dan Kennedy (Moth Host): Now you know what I’ve been dealing with for ten years. I have the funniest stories . . .

JH: This Orangina’s getting to me!

MM: Okay, well, is there anything different for The Moth in San Francisco?

JH: Well, in some ways across the country the stories are the same: heartbreak, job loss, family stuff . . . But of course San Francisco’s gonna have an amazing different flavor, this is a wild city, this is a place where a lot of stuff meets.

DK: Well, the first story [tonight] was about a woman being led up to heaven by an angel after she was hit on her bicycle, and it wasn’t too long after that that we went into a story of a boy learning to masturbate. I think that’s a pretty awesome range, and we heard everything in between. I don’t think that happens in a lot of cities.

(more…)

The original Singin’ & Pingin’ at Z Space last summer drew a crowd of almost 700, and it was probably the mot epic party I’ve ever seen. The holiday edition at Rickshaw Stop (Singin’ & Pingin’ 2) wasn’t quite as packed, but it was nearly as epic. Turns out singing and pinging go together like drinking and dancing. Who knew?

Here’s the official invite to Singin’ & Pingin’ 3:

Everywhere we go, people ask, “WHEN IS THE NEXT SINGIN’ & PINGIN’???” Well, the next SINGIN’ & PINGIN’ is here, folks! And it’s gonna be at the world-famous VERDI CLUB in San Francisco’s Mission District!

DJ Purple’s DANCE KARAOKE mission is going strong at venues around the city and the region, but it’s gonna be an outright SPECTACLE thanks to the big stage — and huge dance floor — at Verdi. Start perusing the songbook (http://djpurple.com/) now, so you’re good and ready when the time comes!

Add to that a couple of ping pong tables and a couple crates of paddles — plus a full bar and the best group of partygoers in town — and we’re in business!

RSVP and invite your friends!

Toubin and his New York Night Train empire are a pret-ty big deal, so it’s gonna be lovely to have it all here at Rickshaw Stop for a night:

GET DOWN all night long to the extra-exceptional, explosive, and exquisite 1960s soul 45s of globe-trotting New York DJ MR JONATHAN TOUBIN! New York Night Train’s Soul Clap and Dance-Off is North America’s most popular soul party − by far playing to more people in more places and generating more capital than any of its contemporaries. The concept is simple – all night dancing to the wild soul 45s of subterranean superstar NYC DJ Mr. Jonathan Toubin and, in the middle, a $100 CASH PRIZE dance contest judged by a panel of local celebrities.

RSVP and invite your friends!

Here’s a pic I took of Wam Bam Ashleyanne winning the dance-off last time Soul Clap was in town:

Top that!

(Oh and she and I are on the judging panel this time, so be sure to address us as “Your Honor” if you see us. Starting now. Thanx.)

Scenic Drive! Here’s the deal:

Scenic Drive brings you the chilled out music you like in a fine style on the final tuesday of the month. Deep house, electronica, dub & more. No cover, cheap drinks, good vibes. Your drivers this month will be:

Tristes Tropiques (Temple of Dreams/Haçeteria)

and Chris Taylor (Scenic Drive)

Sounds lovely! RSVP and invite your friends!