Mission Mission

Here is Brittany & Katie’s new review of Beautiful:

What do “The Locomotion”, “Like a Natural Woman”, and “It’s Too Late” have in common? Aside from the general time period they were written, we didn’t think much. That is until we saw Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at SHN’s Curran Theater.

Katie: These reenactment musicals, where they just sing songs that we all know, never get me like other musicals. I like original songs, not ones I know repurposed. I thought the acting and the singing was really good, the set was great, but I wasn’t really taken away anywhere.

Brittany: I enjoyed it, but I don’t think it’s a very well constructed musical. I had NO IDEA who Carole King was going into the show. I really like all the songs she wrote, but I had no idea she wrote them. My Mom always had on the on the 60s oldies station in the car, and we’d sing along to these songs, so there was a fun nostalgia in seeing them performed on stage. But like you said, I don’t think I was ever that into the play. It felt like the writer tried to cram in every single hit she ever wrote, which made the plot really brief.

K: Right there was so little story! I wanted more.

B: What was there of the story was great, and surprisingly endearing, but I wish there were a few less hits and a little more of the characters. I thought all the actors were great, the singing was great, I just wish there had been more story.

K: That’s definitely what I was thinking. Especially in the first act when it was hit after hit, I wanted to go back to her and her life.

B: Part of the problem is we’re not appropriately aged to know if the actors playing the bands that played her hits acted and sounded exactly like that group. It sounded similar to what I remember of the recordings, but for me it was never “Oh my God those girls have The Shirelles nailed”. I bet they did, but because I didn’t know the first act got repetitive. I think my Mom might have loved it.

K: Well done production, the woman who played Carole (Jessie Mueller) was amazing, I just wanted more of her. She was such a good actress. I mean, if you love this music, you love Carole King, you’ll love this musical.

The Verdict: Are you a huge fan of 60s/70s pop music? Are you into music history? You should totally go see this show! Don’t care about music from that era? You’ll probably be disappointed with the brevity of the story, even though it’s an endearing one. But it is going to Broadway next, so there’s always the cache of seeing it first.

The Drama Talk: Just like most shows put up by SHN, this one doesn’t fail to dazzle with the production. Beautiful sets, talented actors, overall a great spectacle. The only thing that fell short was the play, which choose hits over substance.

The Drinks: We’re always at a loss when it comes to food and drinks near Union Square. Luckily, Katie did her research and we decided to check out Redford down the street. We now have a new go-to spot for happy hour in the neighborhood, which goes extra long on week nights. Brittany got the Redford Manhattan, since the play took place in NY. Katie got a Moscow Mule, because she’s a hippie sympathizer or something. Both were a great end to a fun night.

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical runs through October 20th at the Curran Theater. Tickets range from $210 – $75 (on the pricey side) and can be purchased through the SHN website.

From the posting on Craigslist, which has been removed:

The HAUNTED HOUSE OF HORRORS is San Francisco’s first-ever Haunted House/Halloween Attraction at the city’s very own historic and national landmark: The Old Mint! For 6 nights, October 26th until Halloween Night, October 31st, the Old Mint will be transformed into 25 chambers of terror with everything from horror mazes, scare-cams, thrilling live shows, a killer-costume fashion show, and even a bar and lounge for the over 21 crowd.

Check out our website: thehauntedhouseofhorrors.com

CASTING CALL
This Saturday October 19th & Sunday October 20th

SCARETASTIC ROLES INCLUDE:
Zombies
Clowns
Vampires
Brain Eaters
Werewolves
Scarecrows
Contortionists
And many more . . . .

WHEN: October 25th – October 31st
DAY / EVENING
6 hour shifts

COMPENSATION: $400 for all 6 days, or $60 per day
2 comp tix
Good times and merriment
Costumes & Makeup Provided

“BART to the Beach,” son! SFist reports:

An ongoing new project, dubbed BART Metro Vision, is seeking to outline various pie-in-the-sky ideas for expanding the train system beyond 2025, and current ideas include adding lines to the Sunset and Richmond, adding stops on the current line at Van Ness and at 30th and Mission, and adding a second Transbay Tube.

Read on for more info and lots more map!

Who created the Clipper Card website? Satan?

— marta f. (@marmotilla) October 16, 2013

[via DVTDL?]

First there’s Pop Scream 2013 with an LCD Soundsystem cover band AND a Strokes cover band:

Then there’s the American Tripps Halloween/Dia de Los Muertos Party with Berlin-style ping pong and beloved local band Still Flyin’ performing as NEW ORDER:

And then, it’s the Total Trash Halloween Bash featuring THE SONICS! PERFORMING AS THE SONICS!!!

THE SONICS!

Phewf!

Along with Wavves and Jacuzzi Boys!

And there’s a meeting tomorrow night to discuss the particulars:

Bay Area Bike Share, like many bike sharing programs, is awesome. Expanding into the Mission and other neighborhoods is going to make it TOTALLY awesome.

Here’s a helpful map:

I myself can’t make it to the meeting, but as long as there are stations at Dolores Park, St. Francis Fountain and the Secret Alley, I should be okay.

Riding the Google buses over to the island from the AT&T Park parking lot is fun and all, but how about A PARTY BOAT INSTEAD???

As mentioned in our Q&A with BFF.fm founder Cosmic Amanda, BFF.fm found Cosmic Amanda will be DJing every trip. Also, OPEN BAR!!!

The Bold Italic has the official details:

Catch our boat at the San Francisco Ferry Building or in Oakland’s Jack London Square.

||OPEN BAR||SNACKS||MUSIC||

Our DJ, Cosmic Amanda from BFF.fm, will be playing tunes that will get you movin’ while we move you across the bay.

The first 25 people to board each boat receive a limited edition t-shirt from San Franpsycho. Nautical wear is optional, but heavily encouraged.

Schedule for Saturday 10/19 and Sunday 10/20
Please note: departure times are EXACT! Don’t miss the boat!

Trip to Treasure Island (available Saturday 10/19 and Sunday 10/20)
12:15pm San Francisco Ferry Building (Gate E next to Sinbad’s restaurant)
1:15pm Oakland Jack London Square (Water St. near the Waterfront Hotel)
2:00pm arrival at Treasure Island (Pier 1)

Trip from Treasure Island (available Saturday 10/19 and Sunday 10/20)
11:15pm Depart Treasure Island
12:15am Guests disembark in Oakland Jack London Square
1:00am Guests disembark at the San Francisco Ferry Building

We’ve got plenty of ticket options! Pre-sale pricing only available through Friday 10/11/13.

Tickets are here.

Note: the graphic above (by Allison of C’mon Pony) depicts the BFF crew getting wasted before the festival even starts, as well as the sequined outfit Cosmic Amanda will probably be wearing. Can’t wait!

[via Caryn]

Meet BFF.fm, a brand-new radio station broadcasting from deep inside the Secret Alley, right here in the Mission. “[We're] a community of music-obsessed radio enthusiasts,” according to founder Cosmic Amanda, “We’re excited to share the stuff we love as we discover it and we hope you’ll tune in and find something new that you love.”

I think the key there is bringing DJs on board who are really excited about music and who can’t wait to share their discoveries with people. We have one DJ who is really passionate about radio- so much so that he doesn’t own a television. We have another who quit his gig at a popular commercial station when they switched their DJs over to a corporate-mandated playlist and he couldn’t share the 60s R&B influenced rock he loves. We have some really awesome DJs on board so far and we’re still on the hunt for more quality DJs to join our ranks- people who live and breathe music, or ran their college radio station, or write a music blog…people, like me, who HAVE to be doing this. It’s almost a matter of compulsion.

How have you gone about putting your roster of DJs together thus far?

In the spirit of BFF, all the credit for our ever-growing cadre of awesome DJs goes to our friends. The moment I saw the space at The Secret Alley, I knew I had to make this happen. I ran home, drafted a mission statement, and then started telling everyone I knew. Some friends immediately wanted to be DJs, and others knew people they thought would be perfect and recommended them. It’s funny how in sync and tight-knit our DJ staff feels after only a month. But, it’s because everyone is a friend or a friend of a friend or a friend of a friend of a friend.

And, actually, this friendship-fest goes beyond our DJs- BFF.fm has an amazing support network, too. My husband Forrest took on the crazy complex task of building our studio and acting as our station engineer. Our friend Allison Gore fixed up my janky self-made logo and put it on some buttons. Caryn aka Small Crimes is heading up the music department. Sierra Frost helped us book our first official station event. And there a bunch of other people who have just been super cool and bought t-shirts, liked our Facebook page, and helped spread the word. But I guess I should hold off sounding like I’m giving an acceptance speech until we actually (hopefully) win some sort of award some day.

Tell us about the first official station event!

We’re having a big launch party at Bottom of the Hill on November 27th. (that’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving) Local bands Kitten Grenade, Deep Dimension, The Happy Hollows, and DJ Jackson Sandland are all pitching in to help us throw an awesome event. Everyone should come on down to hear some awesome local music, meet our DJs, buy some BFF.fm merch, and support independent radio!

And you personally are DJing the Bold Italic’s pleasure cruise to and from the Treasure Island Music Festival this weekend?

Yes! Small Crimes and I are working on the playlists as we speak- we’re planning playlists based on this year’s line up to get you psyched up on your way across the Bay to the festival. And be sure to save some energy for the cruise back each night- I’ll be spinning dance jams from every era to keep the party going til the boat hits the dock. If you’re on board come say hi and we’ll give you a BFF.fm sticker!

And then what’s your #1 main focus moving forward?

Our main focus is supporting emerging and underground artists, and we’ll do that not only by spinning their tunes, but by reaching out into the local music scene and forging partnerships with bands and labels. I want us to become a go-to resource for spreading the word about awesome new music.

My goal in creating this station is to build a professional-quality studio in an amazing space that inspires DJs to put forth their very best content. This has been a labor of love for me, taking up all of my free time and money, but even in just the short amount of time we’ve been around the response has been amazingly positive and I can’t wait to see where we can take this.

Thanks, Cosmic Amanda! Now TUNE IN!!! Or get involved!

Also, follow BFF on Facebook or on Twitter!

UPDATE: I posted this just as technicians showed up to upgrade the Secret Alley’s internet connection — so BFF.fm is down for a little while. But don’t worry, BFF will BRB!

UPDATE: BFF is back! Forrest is currently powering the entire station using his phone!!!