Mission Mission

This was the grisly scene from 24th St. BART this morning. Do bike thieves carry high-powered lasers or something?

Exhibit A: The mighty U-lock

Exhibit B: The security cable you use to lock your wheels

I prefer to think of bicycles being on temporary loan from the universe, so I guess I won’t be too bummed when someone collects on my $25 rusted Murray.

The Napper Tandy on 24th S. Van Ness launched their new look last Friday. The exterior has been overhauled and lit with extra-bright fog lights. The interior has been completely redone to match their discerning, classy clientele of football fans (no, not “American football”).

What, you don’t hang out at the Napper Tandy? I’ll have you know that Irish Public Houses are part of a rich, worldwide tradition of capitalizing on Ireland’s drinking culture, and providing a safe haven for English visitors who too squeamish to socialize in unfamiliar countries. Take part in that rich tradition this weekend, won’t you?

Not only that, the Napper Tandy one of the few Mission purveyors of the full Irish Breakfast, which basically two of every animal you can think of. This “noah’s ark” diet is excellent fuel for a mid-day nap. Come to think of it, maybe that’s why “Napper” is in the bar’s name.

Pig and Pie, the restaurant poised to take over the ex-Discolandia space, made a showing at 24th St. First Fridays last week. Hog and Rocks, now Pig and Pie? What’s next, Swine and Sushi?

During the event, they were selling some tasty-looking bratwurst and pickles. Unfortunately, I was too stuffed with tacos to partake. Sorry, but you try walking down half of 24th without gorging every two blocks.

The restaurant is scheduled to open in a couple of weeks, pending city paperwork approval. The fellow above confirmed that the “DISCOLANDIA” sign will stay to satiate whiny bloggers such as myself, but the hanging sign which currently reads “RECORDS” will be replaced with one that reads “SAUSAGES”. I guess that’s cool, since sausages are actually one of the few things I like as much as records.

You can scope the hand-drawn menu in the pics, or head over to their site for their predictably not-too-vegetarian-friendly full menu.

A 2 alarm fire is raging at Valencia and Duboce, at a multi-story apartment building across the street from Zeitgeist.

I can smell it from 22nd and hear the sirens. I hope everyone’s OK.

Update (1:35pm):

It was upped to a 4 alarm fire. Witnesses reported an explosion prior. The blaze is under control now. 37 people will be displaced and there were 5 injured including 3 firefighters who were victims of a collapsed staircase. Scary stuff. Read on at Mission Loc@l.

[photo by nancymancias]

SFGate posted some great then-and-now shots of Mission locations that you may know. Check out a 1962 Clarion Alley, lined with quaint bungalows:

And now, it’s the only street in the Mission that’s apparently immune to city graffiti citation!

Here’s everyone’s favorite intersection: 24th and Hampshire (AKA “Deuce-four Ham”).

Sadly, Bucket O’ Suds didn’t survive the British Invasion:

I personally think the closing of Bucket O’Suds marked the end of the golden age in Mission. After that, it was only high-tech artisanal laundry facilities. No soul. I long for the days where I’d pop a nickel in the laundry machine and get a shave from Chet while I waited. Maybe someone should start a kickstarter campaign to restore the Bucket O’Suds space to it’s full architectural glory.

Check out the rest of this amazing series at SFGate.

[photos SFGate Archives, Peter Hartlaub]

About half a day after Weston Wear was cited for being helplessly vandalized by the Monday night rioters (and later tagged), Weston Wear happily reports:

City has removed our citation. The squeaky wheel really does get the grease!

— Weston Wear Store (@WestonWearStore) May 3, 2012

I guess all your nasty comments hurt their feelings! Way to go, readers! Keep ‘em coming.

Talk about adding insult to injury. Or is it adding pointless fine to injury?

Oh SF City dept, citing us for graffiti on our boarded up windows is just poor taste.

— Weston Wear Store (@WestonWearStore) May 3, 2012

On the shitty meter, this just about ranks up there with getting your car stolen and having to pay for towing.

It’s a good thing that antenna operators are equipped with portable video recording devices (in the form of smartphones) these days:

And here’s another tower tour from 2009:

[via Monkeybrains]

American Hipster, a new YouTube reality show about America’s next top American Hipster (I think), just did a profile on Jeremy Tooker, the owner of Four Barrel cafe / artisanal bike-storage facility. Check it:

The absurdity of sipping coffee samples from a tasting spoon and spitting them out into a cup is apparently not lost on him, either.

Sally snapped this shot of the view from the 299 Valencia condo development. Get yourself a telescope and you can go ahead and cancel your subscription to Kink.com.

[photo by Sally Kuchar/Curbed SF]