Mission Mission

Amber Bouman has just informed us that the 16th & Mission Open Mic posse is throwing itself into some new endeavors. Firstly there’s The 16th & Mission Review, a monthly lit mag available at the open mic (and hopefully soon in area stores). Nextly there’s the official 16th & Mission website, where you’ll find news items, event listings, photos and other lovely oddities (We’re assured they’re working on getting an RSS feed up and running). And, to review, in case you didn’t know:

[E]very Thursday at 16th & Mission there is a free, and totally democratic, open mic (minus the mic, the sign-up sheet, and the time limit). It’s been happening for over five years, starting at about 9pm (depending on who shows when, some nights it’s definitely closer to 10pm), and features poets, MCs, musicians, comedians, dancers, etc. The kids who perform here have heart, and the event itself is something special that only the Mission has…

Anybody have any stories illustrating exactly how special and unique to the Mission this thing really is?

Photos by wordartsalon (click to enlarge).

Wow. We went to the first Debaser and it was OK. But the most recent edition featured a Cranberries cover band called Ocean Spray. Maybe it’s just because Girl Talk just mashed them up with M.I.A., but I feel like a Cranberries cover band playing in a punk club in the Deep Mission would’ve been a pretty good time. Plus, TK says it was a pretty good time.

A clerk in a neighborhood corner store told Beth Spotswood she wasn’t allowed to use her cellphone in the store. Beth was understandably vexed (“How can they have a cell phone policy? They don’t even have brie.”) and wrote about the experience here.

Previously on Mission Mission:

Chillaxin’ at the Nice Lady Store

This poster campaign’s got us thinking, and it’s true, we are all San Franciscans. So please excuse us while we spotlight the following project even though it’s based in a neighborhood other than ours. It’s called Graze the Roof and it involves bettering the lives of low-income and homeless children in the Tenderloin, via sustainable rooftop gardening:

Graze the Roof [...] will demonstrate soil-less and container gardening methods on the rooftop at Glide, a San Francisco church and nonprofit located in the Tenderloin District. The project eliminates the use of fossil fuel consuming production and distribution methods typical of modern agricultural practices while saving energy in the building and reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Students from Glide’s Training and Employment Services Youth Build Program will construct and maintain the garden which will produce 1,440 lbs. of food in its first year. The rooftop will provide a natural sanctuary and a space to relax, inspire, educate and empower 200 homeless and low-income children between the ages of 5 and 18.

Graze the Roof on the Project Slingshot blog.

Update: Graze the Roof has nothing to do with the poster above. I just used the poster’s two messages as a segue into something not overtly related to the Mission.

Todd Lappin of Telstar Logistics just turned us onto this: Craig Butz created an amazing site illustrating the route the Southern Pacific Railroad once took through the Mission District. Today the tracks are long gone of course, but there are some lasting remnants in the form of diagonally oriented buildings, parking lots and gardens. Did your backyard used to be a rail yard? Link.

And who knew there used to be a railroad bridge over Dolores Street!?

Thanks, Todd!

Previously on Mission Mission:

From the Mission to Williamsburg, Brooklyn (Thanks to Google Maps Walking Directions)

Happy Mother’s Day!

Remembering the Fell Street Off-Ramp

Friday morning, walking down Mission, stopped in my tracks by frantic shouts of, “Whoa! Whoa! WHOA!” The overhead wire technicians were up on their elevated platform (their vehicle parked in one of Mission Street’s center lanes) performing repairs to a section of track that serves the 14, the 24, and the 49, when this semi tries to sneak past. The driver heard the shouts and stopped inches before his trailer ripped the workers right out of the sky.

I guess it’s brushes with death like this that justify those guys being allowed to double park in front of La Taqueria when the rest of us cain’t.

She’s popping right out of the toilet bowl at Thrillhouse Records. Adorable, right?

I thought we all liked the purple; what gives? On the other hand, it’s kind of nice, like how Treasure Island and the Mirage are across from each other and their signs have the same lettering.

Previously on Mission Mission:

Requested, 12:45am at Beauty Bar

Dope New Furnishings at Beauty Bar

Bars of the Mission: Beauty Bar Part II

Nick Douglas took a walk in the Mission today and came back with this artfully composed shot, taken at 22nd and South Van Ness.

Inhabitat‘s Mike Chino just sent me a text: “Check your gmail…” Anyway, he’s on the scene:

I swear to god this neighborhood keeps getting rougher….

Today (August 2nd) at 12:00 noon I spotted this itinerant horde of bees slowly making its way down 14th street between Mission and Valencia. The roving mass was apparently following a fugitive queen as she made her way down the block, clustering on top of cars and buildings with no concern for private property. Police assured a concerned public that there was, in fact, an emergency beekeeper on his way, and that there was no cause for alarm.

Cripes! Hope everybody’s okay. Thanks, Mike!

Update: Wendy was on the scene too. She kind of just broke my heart by explaining that “Emergency Beekeeper” is not an official City of San Francisco job title:

the police didn’t even know that you could call a beekeeper. they said they would put their number on file for future reference though. before my bf called the beekeepers, the police had called the fire department. they had no idea i guess.

And she says that sfbee.org is the place to find ass-kicking beekeepers should another emergency arise. Thanks, Wendy!

More mysterious phenomena on Mission Mission:

Humanoid Ghostbat Sighted

God Gives Me The Finger

Dead Rat in Tar With Its Spinal Chord Out on Muni Tracks Near Dolores Park

Squid With Human-Like Teeth/Gloryholes For Beginners Mashup