Mission Mission

Mission Loc@l had the bright idea to send a reporter out into the community to see what people are really saying about American Apparel. Julie Johnson is the reporter, and she came back with some great stuff:

A few doors north from the public notice announcing American Apparel’s application to open shop in a vacant storefront, Roger Ryan is surrounded by orange tags halving prices, and red signs that read, “Going out of business sale.” Ryan, who owns two storefronts along the business corridor, will close the doors of his flagship Z-Barn Interiors shop on the 900 block of Valencia Street for good on Saturday.

“If I’d known American Apparel was opening a store here, I would have kept my doors open longer,” Ryan said. “Right now, this block is actually a dead block.”

[...]

“I have no idea why they need to claim more land,” said Courtland Donaldson, 24, who has worked at Shoe Biz for more than three years. “If anyone wants to shop there they have three other locations.” Shoe Biz also has another location in the Haight.

[...]

Further north on Valencia, Jeremy Tooker posted “Stop American Apparel” signs in the window of Four Barrel Coffee near 15th Street, which he opened last August. Wearing a grey sweatshirt he bought at American Apparel, Tooker echoed many people’s views when he emphasized that he likes the company but doesn’t believe it fits in the Mission’s culture.

[...]

Many neighbors have never heard of American Apparel, including Laura Hopper, director of Psychic Horizons, a few doors down from the proposed store.

“I would prefer not to have chains, but if I’ve never heard of it, it can’t be that big,” said Hopper, who’s been in business on Valencia Street for about 11 years. “It’s always better to have the space filled.”

[...]

“In certain areas, chain stores are helpful in growing neighborhoods. But in this particular case it’s not necessary,” [Michael O’Connor, president of the Small Business Commission] said. “It’s not like the space won’t get rented.”

Link.

By James Stevens / Photos by Matt Rubin

Thorns of Life loaded in their own equipment as about a hundred kids looked on in a scene that must have been reminiscent of Blake Schwarzenbach’s humble beginnings playing houses and small clubs in San Francisco, L.A and the East Bay. Schwarzenbach, considered one of the biggest influences on punk and emo music, is back playing and writing music with his new band Thorns of Life after nearly a six-year hiatus.  Last night they played Thrillhouse Records.

Thrillhouse, next to the 76 on the corner of 30th and Mission is the prototypical punk rock record store.  The store is a non-profit collective and part of a house where six of the members live.  It houses a DIY record label and is also a show space (although the Fire Marshall shut down the basement last summer). The venue embodies the ethos of Schwarzenbach as an artist- entirely focused on the music and having a good time with no attention paid to making money or drawing huge crowds.  If Jawbreaker is the sound of the Mission, then this is how the Mission parties.

The atmosphere was distinctly different from the show Thorns of Life played at the Hemlock on Monday.  The only famous musician I saw at Thrillhouse was the Mission’s own Adam Pfahler who was the drummer in Jawbreaker and now owns Lost Weekend Video (as opposed to Fat Mike from NOFX and Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day at the Hemlock).  There was no guest list, no line to get in and no obnoxious bar owner telling people to leave or that there wasn’t any room.

At Thrillhouse there wasn’t any room, either, but everyone who made it was invited in with open arms.  At the Hemlock, crowd members rudely shouted out names of Jawbreaker songs and at Thrillhouse the crowd bantered with members of the band and songs were dedicated to Harvey Milk and Mayor Moscone, “Don’t forget about Moscone, he got blasted too.  Every time you go to the Moscone Center think about that,” Schwarzenbach quipped.

The show itself was great.  If a comparison has to be made to Schwarzenbach’s other bands (and plenty are being made already), the music was the same combination of literature as lyrics and three chord punk that Jawbreaker fans love, with certain songs dropping the tempo and building in complexity in ways that are similar to Schwarzenbach’s second band Jets to Brazil.   However, because of the three person guitar-bass-drums set up of Thorns, the sound is decidedly more punk and upbeat than Jets to Brazil.  Blake’s telltale growl shines through it all, a familiar voice we never thought we’d hear live again.  Thorns of Life play 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley on Saturday.

Related:

Thorns of Life house show in Brooklyn (Video) at Bohemian.com (Thanks, Thaddius!).

The Sound of the Mission on Mission Mission.

Thrillhouse Toilet Graffiti on Mission Mission.

The Snitch has details on a political action against an allegedly dicky landlord. Link.

I really liked CLG. And even though they relocated to within one block of my day job, I haven’t been. Can’t really get into Thai for lunch I guess.

This one comes courtesy of Todd Lappin. Lucky bastard has this beauty hanging on his wall at home (Click on it to see everything in much greater detail). Note that some of us are living in areas that once were called such fanciful things as Beatty Willows, Horner’s Addition, Franconia, and Section 16.

And that the street north of Army was called Navy! How do you like them apples?

Thanks, Todd!

Reader Will proposed something along these lines in the comments of another post:

Here’s an idea to move us beyond thinking just about what happens in one small store front: Why can’t San Francisco build it’s own version of American Apparel’s manufacturing plant right here in the Mission? That would be much cooler than an American Apparel retail outlet or a new boutique anyway, and it would create hundreds of jobs instead of just a handful. And they’d be better jobs. Maybe Bill Gates wants to do this. Now there would be a daily dose of irony.

Or better yet – the city should do this as part of their program for the economic development of the Mission. Some people might initially think it would be unfair because no clothing manufacturer could compete with the government aided business, but tell me – what clothing manufactures are there in SF anyway? One would be a lot better than none. And the people of San Francisco or a democratically elected Mission representative could control it. I wonder if MAC and the Valencia Street merchants would get behind that!

Link.

If anybody still thinks the Dark Room is where Sketchfest dumps all the boring stuff, think again. I just learned that last week’s lineup included Elephant Larry, whose Optical Illusion Girlfriend video totally owned Digg this week. So I asked Rhiannon from the Dark Room to tell us a little more about what the shows are like, and what’s in store for this weekend — the final weekend of the festival. Rhiannon says:

Generally, they’re shorter sets from more experimental non-local sketch groups and local groups. I’m looking forward to Saturday’s late show, because Things We Made is one of my favorite acts in town, and the crowd loved Piano Fight last week. Friday’s late show looks good as well. It’s always fun. We have three groups a show as opposed to two at the Eureka, so the show’s a little quicker paced, a little more… Well, fun, for me anyway.

Note as well that Groomed for Success (Beth Lisick and Tara Jespen) are performing both nights. Advance tickets are recommended, and available via the Sketchfest or Dark Room websites.

Full schedule after the jump:

(more…)

In this installment of Imsoooconfused, Myles explains why he’d like to be more emo, and asks us all for help. He doesn’t wanna half ass it either, so please forward him some solid suggestions.

MAC enters the fray, with a post titled Your Recommended Daily Allowance of Irony:

[W]e cannot overlook the irony and contradictions that the “locally owned businesses on Valencia “Your Mission” campaign present. Many of the displacements have been at the hands of non-neighborhood serving boutique shops, or destination restaurants or just plain expensive shops that many Mission residents can not shop at. I noticed a comment on the No American Apparel site that stated that it was these shops that had saved the Mission from 99 cent stores and, I assume, other lower-end businesses. It is this short sighted analysis from the group that makes us pause.

Lots more here.

Best public relations email of the day:

Hi there,

Just wanted to let you know the original DOSA on Valencia is now accepting reservations.  The hours are as follows:

Mon-Thurs and Sunday 5:30 -10 p.m.
Friday and Saturday 5:30 – 11 p.m.
Sat and Sun brunch 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Update: Doctor Memory translates:

“Having ridden our Hot New Hipster Joint wave as far as it was ever going to take us, and having never had any plan for what to do once it was over, we’re going to try desperately to act like a real business and hope that all of our neighbors forget us spitting in their faces for the last three years continuously.  We look forward to the next six months of staring forlornly at empty tables, and then re-opening as a laundromat.”

Mission Mission contributor Becca is currently on an extended tour around Central America, and she’s staying in touch via Travel Maven, Large Jet. Since the Mission owes a lot to Central America, I feel like we should keep an eye on her travels. This week, she’s in San Andrés, Guatemala. Link.

Previously:

Becca Gets Attacked by an Ocelot

Becca Rides The Washing Machine Bike