Mission Mission

“Mr. Seahorse knows that no one is illegal,” reads this sidewalk stencil found by Mission Mission reader JimBeam.

Although I see washing machines and laundry carts on the inside, I’m still hoping it is a publishing house for all things tissue and handkerchief related.

Okay, not an Ocelot. Meet Xena. She’s a Savannah (which makes her part Serval — yikes!), she loves Dolores Park and she’s very talkative (“mraaaar, mraaaaaaaaaaaar, mraar”). Yesterday she drew quite a crowd just sitting there looking pretty. Click photos to see photo page.

Update: Michael Pieracci says maybe Xena ain’t so happy.

Previously on Mission Mission:

I Lost Meow to Meth

Who loooves coffee!? Coffee Like Wine does, and they’ve just reviewed some of the best Four Barrel Coffee has to offer:

[T]he Kocherie was a dead ringer for Darjeeling tea, with a lithe mouthfeel and astringent and spicy flavors in the mouth. On the nose I got that black tea scent as well as a candied fruit, something like those chewy, sugar coated orange slices candy that you pick up from a convenience store, two for $1.

Wow! Read a lot more here.

Photo by .chickpea.

It’s time for the 9th Annual Expo for Independent Arts, and for the first time it’s being held outdoors, in our favorite place in the world, Dolores Park:

The 2008 Expo is an all-day extravaganza in Dolores Park featuring more than 100 Bay Area arts organization exhibitors, a couple dozen D.I.Y. workshop and education events, delicious food, a children’s activity area, and two stages for live music, performances, circus acts and hundreds of local artists and musicians. Attendees can browse tables staffed by local galleries, nonprofits, collectives and small businesses; present their portfolios; and join in workshops on grant proposals, censorship, arts marketing, underground art history, making a demo tape and more.

We’re looking forward to performances by Ralph Carney, SFC Double Dutch and Uni and Her Ukulele. See you there? (via funcheapSF)

Flickr user H 3D snapped this shot (and this shot, and this shot) down in San Jose. Bon voyage, Ribity!

The Chronicle‘s C.W. Nevius just filed a report called Worrisome changes roil the Mission District. In it, he takes a look at homelessness and gentrification, in part through the eyes of a longtime Missionite called Pergola. At the end, they come across some of those sidewalk stencils we all love so dear:

“Sanctuary city for the rich,” one reads. Another said, “Gentrification, better than crack.”

It leaves residents like Pergola wondering how he got on the wrong side of this.

“I was going to make one up that said, ‘Poop on my driveway and I will run over you with my stroller.’ “

In the Mission, people might not think that was funny.

I think it’s funny! But seriously, it’s nice that our paper of record is taking an interest, yeah? Read the whole thing for some startling facts and figures, and insights from city officials and others in the neighborhood.

Previously on Mission Mission:

Sanctuary City for the Rich

Sitting on the good old bus 49 over the weekend, I came across something that is rarely seen in San Francisco – a bus driver who fought for his fare. All too often the driver doesn’t even glance at my MUNI pass and I go for days without actually needing it, wondering why I even waste the $45 dollars each month. That is a lot of ice cream at Bi-rite, well, not really all that much.

But this driver was tenacious. He kicked a middle aged man off the bus for using a senior pass. When someone got in through the back door, the driver refused to budge the bus until this man showed him his transfer. Because this man pretended he didn’t know the bus driver was talking to him for a full minute (sitting down), flashed his transfer (and sat back down), went to the front of the bus to show his expired transfer (and sat back down), and then finally came up with the necessary $1.50 (and sat back down!), we sat on the street for a good 3 minutes not moving. My ride from 26th street to 16th street took 15 minutes.

On one hand, I had places to go and things to see.

On the other hand, I was secretly happy.

But then I think about how incredibly long it would take to get the bus moving if everyone went in through the front door: stops at 24^th and 16^th street would probably take at least an extra minute or two. And then I get angry at the people who go out the front door who have clear access to the back doors and who are in no way physically challenged. I am even occasionally upset with the old people who insist on pulling carts everywhere – if you have enough gumption to pull a wheeled basket up onto the bus, you are strong enough to exit through the back door.

Bus rides are often long and angry for me.

And then I read how poor MUNI is, and how they are thinking of raising the monthly fare. Couldn’t I just send 10 people to the front of the bus to pay their fare and add my extra $15 dollars that way? Maybe by making people follow the few simple rules about entering, exiting, and paying fares, not only would we have a better funded system, but is possible it would no longer be one of the slowest public transport systems in the nation.

I need a bike.

The Yum Diary got the scoop from some workmen fixing up the now-empty space:

“What’s going to move in here?” I shouted. (They were really pretty far back there.)

“The Burger Mister!” the elder fellow shouted back.

“The Burger Mister?”

“Yes, the Burger Mister!” he asserted.

[pause, thinking]

“Oh, you mean Burgermeister?” I asked.

“Yes! Yes! The Burgermeister!”

Link. But this still doesn’t answer the more pressing question.

Update: ERRONEOUS!! Thanks, Tracie! Sorry, everybody.

Bronstein at Large interviewed actor Sam Rockwell the other day, and Rockwell, who grew up in and around SF, basically did nothing but gush about the Mission. Look for talk of Zeitgeist, Farolito and Pancho Villa. Also, something about his cock. Raw, 24-minute version here. (via SFist’s Day Around the Bay)