Mission Mission

Whilst shopping at my favorite little corner store at 16th and Mission, I saw out of the corner of my eye some people run by in the street. Then said people were suddenly awash in red and blue lights. And there was yelling on a bullhorn and big signs and more people. A protest against something or other had materialized in front of my eyes in a matter of seconds.

Strangely, the protesters converged on Wells Fargo holding a 5′x5′ sign that said, “No Police in Greece,” or something like that. I might have remembered more specifically what the sign said had any aspect of the protest- like, at all- made any sense.

After watching for a few minutes and listening to the guy with the bull horn yell (again, not exactly, but basically), “We’ll burn your face off,” I headed across the street to ask some questions. I started with a kid who was holding one side of the aforementioned giant sign.

Me: So what’s the deal?
Him: We’re protesting.
Me: Against what?
Him: Against a police state.
Me: glances around at the dozen or so police officers protecting the protesters and their right of free speech. Wow, it’s really nice of these police officers to protect you while you protest against them.
Him: blank stare.
Me: What’s this about Greece?
Him: It’s about the killing of Alexis Grigoropoulos. He was killed by police in Greece.
Me: Why Wells Fargo?
Him: Huh?
Me: Why are you protesting in front of Wells Fargo?
Him: We don’t like banks.
Me: This bank, or just all banks?
Him: All banks. We’re going to be stopping at a few others.
Me: Ok, that’s cool. So who organized the protest?
Him: Nobody.

Feeling even more confused than when I started talking to this kid, I moved up the street a little and questioned a police officer who was waiting dutifully on his motorcycle.

Me: So what’s the deal?
Police Guy: I don’t know, they’re protesting all over the place. Their last stop was New College. You know the one on Valencia Street?
Me: Yeah. What are they protesting against?
Police Guy: They’re mad at us police. We wouldn’t let them occupy some building earlier.
Me: So why are they protesting outside Wells Fargo?
Police Guy: I don’t know. Earlier they took a vote and everyone voted to just go drink at a bar, but the guy with the megaphone over there, he vetoed that. So they’re here.

I walked away thinking how much I love this ridiculous city.

More:

They don’t fuck around in Athens on Unburying the Lead.

Laser war in Athens on Danger Room.

We’re digging juicyrai‘s photos. Click to enlarge.

Nope. Funny story though, Güero:

I spied a recycle dumpster which appeared to be self ejecting cans and plastic bottles. Then after a moment, a Latino gentleman popped his head out- wiping sweat with one hand and talking on his cell phone with the other. It was an interesting sight and despite his mess making, he collected everything neatly and didn’t leave a trace.

Link.

outlawdiva says:

Big accident/police/parameds @Market/Guerrero. Fire 16th/Guerrero.

Link. Everybody OK?

Rebecca from My First Earthquake just got in touch to tell us about the band’s new holiday-themed video:

Lil’ backstory: I’m known for breaking into a song from my 5th grade holiday concert whenever it gets as cold as it’s been this week here in SF. It starts with “It’s ca-ca-ca-cold outside, I’m f-f-f-f-freezing…” Holiday cheer + weather smalltalk: what could be better!

That’s Rebecca in the video, along with the guy that directed Lawrence of Arabia apparently. Learn more, and download the track, here.

Well, the Mission-meets-Philly cheesesteaks made my brain melt. And the Poutine did the same for others. And I got to shake hands with Chris. But one of my other favorite parts of last night’s edition of Mission Street Food was actually a beverage container: a resealable aluminum sake can — imagine the possibilities!

Meet Carleigh:

I have lived here for 1 year, first on 22nd and York, now on South Van Ness at 22 (hey, gotta keep up that semiannual move, how else am I gonna keep my credit score down?). And! I got a real, live, live-in boyfriend this time, helping make my CitiApartments-run apt a little closer to that deprecatingly deceptive adjective, affordable. HOWEVER, said boyfriend is blind. He’s hot, a 30-year-old hipster techie bay area kid, but he’s blind, which puts us into kind of a marginal category as far as young up and comers go. Oh well. At least we get to use the handicap placard.

But the real story here is about parking on the sidewalk. And walking our dog. And trying to walk a not-so-well-behaved young pooch with cars parked on the sidewalk and being blind. It’s no easy task and my boyfriend has sliced open his toe requiring 8 stitches, gotten the wind knocked out of him, lost his cane tip in a bumper, and been grabbed by a drunk Spanish-speaking guy trying to force him to walk around his car into the street.

Read on.

Beauty Bar’s getting a new neighbor! Mission Loc@l reports that Furniture Center will close within the week, to be replaced as soon as possible by a community-oriented non-profit citadel of sorts. Reader Mitch hipped us to the story, saying:

i met with Luis Granados, who is Director of MEDA, who are the “anchor occupant” and driving this real estate deal….he’s a really cool guy and MEDA are focused on economic AND asset development, which is awesome. they’re a very interesting, long standing group in the hood. i don’t know that much about the other groups…but from the websites they seem like exactly the kind of services folks in the hood could use…and have more accessible.

Granados said there are plans not only to move all these groups in, but to improve the property, put murals on the side, plant trees, etc.

All in all a great thing for everyone.

Link.

Tonight is Shoebox Studio‘s 2nd Annual Holiday Student Showcase. Participating classes include Baby Ballerinas, Hip Hop, Capoeira, Tribal Fusion, American Cabaret Bellydance and more.

Plug1 sent us a helpful FAQ prepared by his homey KB, one of the stars of the show:

- Is this for your burlesque class? No
- Will you be performing a solo/ burlesque solo? Again, this is not for burlesque, and I will not be doing a solo… not in the showcase, at least, but I’m considering taking requests for afterward… for burlesque and otherwise.

Show starts at 8pm, pertinent details are here.

At the SFBC new-members meet and greet on Tuesday, I was reminded of something cool: 311. Meeter/greeter Kate said if ever there’s a bike lane obstructed by glass or junk or potholes or illegally parked cars, call 311, identify yourself as an SFBC member, and explain the problem. So, I did.

Five minutes on the phone, guy took all the pertinent info, and told me the asphalt spillage in both northbound and southbound bike lanes on San Jose Avenue between 29th and 30th (that’d been forcing me into rush-hour traffic all week) would be policed within 48 hours. Forty-seven hours later, all clean!