Mission Mission

See if you can spot Sexy P.

Doc Pop is teaming up with Mission: Comics & Art for an art opening tonight (10/16) from 6-8pm, and while you’re gawking at his art, the Doc will use you for his new music video. Here’s the official explanation:

Beeps and Smudges is the newest album by San Francisco artist/musician Doctor Popular. For the album’s first music video, we are shooting in the gallery at Mission Comics and art, and we’d love to invite you to be an extra!

Doc is creating an entire series of artwork to go along with the show that will be hung in the gallery of Mission Comics for just one weekend. We need folks to come and fill the space between 6 and 8pm. As thanks for helping out, Doc will give art out to everyone who attends. This art will PROBABLY be copies of Doc’s newest 24hr Comic Book “Space” as well as free copies of his new album.

The comic shop is at 3520 20th Street, just West of Mission. Stop by. It’s never a dull time when Doc Pop’s at the wheel.

Here’s a preview of the song, made on an iPhone!

[bandcamp track=2733343458 size=venti bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB]

The Mission Bicycle Festival commenced this past Sunday despite the efforts of concerned NIMBYs and was (as SF Citizen would proudly say) a huge success, thanks in part to the beautiful 80 degree weather and diligently organized volunteer corps.  Locally crafted bike gear by artisans and vendors such as Box Dog Bikes, Rickshaw Bagworks, and Mission Workshop were on full display in a friendly environment that was far less daunting than the massive Interbike convention I checked out in Vegas last week:

(BTW, way better Interbike photos can be found over at Box Dog Blog)

Thanks to the Mission Bicycle Company for organizing such a wonderful representation of velo-culture in the neighborhood (and the Women’s Building too, of course)!  While I wasn’t brave enough to enter the trackstand competition to compete for a brand new Valencia frameset, it was still cool to witness along with the bunny hop contest and unicycle basketball.

Also, I’m pretty sure Interbike didn’t have a S’mores-cycle!

See you next year!

¡Qué triste! The annual Mission Día de los Muertos march which hopes to take place Tuesday, November 2, 2010 at 7pm at 24th & Bryant Streets, needs some help.

Due to budget cuts, the San Francisco Arts Commission eliminated the Neighborhood Festival Grant program this year. Without this source of crucial funding, Marigold Project is struggling to meet the impending costs of the San Francisco Recreation and Park permit. We feel strongly that Day of the Dead should remain a free community event, with no corporate sponsors. It is our hope, that together we can keep this grassroots tradition alive. If you have made an offering at the park in honor of a loved one or have received something of value from being part of this rich and unique community celebration and want to see it continue, please consider making a contribution to this year’s event. We cannot do it without your support.

Bummer, this event has been going on without a hitch for over 30 years. The organization is hoping to raise $6000 to keep the event afloat. Visit the official website and click the donate link in the upper right to help out.

And please, if you do decide to participate in the event this year, be sure to preemptively reflect on the cultural and personal significance of the event, otherwise other white folks folks get soo offended.

Previously:

• Death Becomes Her

Tomorrow night, Friday 9/24, at Coda on Mission and Duboce, a 14-piece supergroup of San Francisco bay area musicians are getting together for a some sets of good old Ray Charles music. The arrangements were done by guitarist Mike Irwin Johnson, of the local bebop group 8 Legged Monster. The band will be called, simply, RAY BAND.

I’m told that every female singer in town was interested in one of the three coveted Raelettes pantomiming backup singer spots. And who who wouldn’t be? They ended up with Allegra Bandy, Rashida Clendening, and Karen Fremont, who all look great in long gloves.

So who plays the part of Ray Charles? Well if you were to ask me to choose someone, I’d say the soul-dripping Lech Wierzynski from the California Honeydrops. Turns out I’m not alone. I don’t know how far Lech is going to take this role. Will he be wearing dark sunglasses and jerking spastically to the music? Will he stumble around after the show and feel up ladies wrists to determine whether or not they are hot enough to shack up with later? (It’s in the movie Ray, dude. Netflix it.)

The show starts at 10pm and costs 10 bucks. Tickets and more info here.

Update! Mike informs us that Lech isn’t Ray tonight. Instead, Dylan Germick of PLANET BOOTY will be filling the chair!

Did you get a chance to spend some time and chill out in one of those temporary parklets this past Friday?  If not, here’s a peek at what you missed at PARKing Day 2010.  [Disclaimer:  NO SAVESIES were used in the commandeering of these parking spots]

As expected, the longtime PARKing veterans in front of Lost Weekend and Ritual Coffee went all out with a 3-meter spot featuring a camping ground complete with a tent on top of real sod and a portable forest of potted plants.  Attention to detail such as the inclusion of a panda clinched a mention as one of the best parklets of the day.

Similarly, the fine folks at SPUR also created a parklet so kickin’ it probably would have qualified for their useful map of POPOS (Privately-Owned Public Open Spaces) had it been a permanent thing.

Despite the fact that not all the parklets were as thoughtfully orchestrated, that didn’t stop people from getting into the spirit of the day.  As this fellow proves, all you really needed was a swatch of AstroTurf and a juvenile tree.

(more…)

PARKing Day is here again, so go ahead and take advantage of the opportunity to hang out in a parking space for the whole afternoon.  As usual, SF Appeal has an excellent interactive map detailing known PARK locations, so have at it!

Also, today would probably not be a great day to try to find street parking on major SF thoroughfares.

Mission Bicycle Company is hosting the first ever Mission Bicycle Festival on the weekend of 9/25. The event will feature a ride out to the Tour De Fat in Golden Gate Park, bike demos, and contests.

This may be particularly interesting to you Mission readers: at 1pm on Saturday 9/25 there will be a “10 Mission Secrets Bike Tour”! What kind of secrets, I wonder? The location of that sketchy flea market where you can buy back your stolen bike? That hidden warp zone that takes you to the top of Potrero hill? Guess you’ll just have to sign up for one of the limited spots to find out.

There will also be a track stand competition at 3pm on Sunday 9/26. The prize is a brand new Valencia frame set. So if watching a bunch of riders sit almost perfectly still is your idea of sport, be sure to check that out.

The flyer is here and you can get more info at Mission Bicycle Company. Oh by the way, they are having a sale wrapping up today where you can get up to $180 off a customized and likely effeminately-colored ride. Check out their facebook page for more info.

The San Francisco Mime Troupe is performing for FREE in Dolores Park tomorrow, Monday 9/6. The show starts at 1:30pm.

They are called the “Mime Troupe” but don’t expect to see skinny dudes in whiteface pulling imaginary ropes. Do expect to see a hilarious musical theater production with a typical pinko SF spin on a current political theme.

This year’s production is called: “Posibilidad, Or Death of the Worker”. Here’s the trailer:

[photo by Steve Rhodes]

You remember zines, right?  They were the blogs before there were blogs.  If Allan was born 10 years earlier, Mission Mission might have been a zine!  I think we can all agree that zines are awesome.  After all, if I hadn’t been reading Cometbus back in high school, I probably would have chosen Cal Tech over Berkeley, and the world would now be in the grip of the tyrant who managed to abscond the Lambda Laser from my quantum physics lab.  So, luckily, you don’t have to worry about that.

Anyway, SF Zinefest is a rad event this weekend in the Hall of Flowers at GG Park where zine authors congregate so anyone can check out all their recent work.  In addition to the totally worthwhile experience of checking it out yourself, you can also support the scene by dancing to 90′s music at the Knockout, as DEBASER is hosting a benefit this Saturday night for the SF Zinefest.  So although you can get in free before 11pm by simply wearing a flannel, DON’T!!!  Wear a hoodie or something instead and help support the Zinefest!

Previously:

KevMo Starts a Flame War with DEBASER