Mission Mission

Chef Anthony of MCF just called to let us know that the…

SF branch of Mission Chinese will be closing soon for our annual summer vacation, when the owners of Lung Shan go back to China. We will be closed starting May 30 and will reopen June 14. (NY will stay open, of course.)

Thanks, Anthony!

[Photos by tudorose]

I was a little boy. My dad took me, and I had a lot of firsts that day:

• My first experience with a real shit-show
• My first time seeing (and RIDING ON) an articulated bus
• My first time riding in a taxi
• My first time walking lots of miles
• My first time staying out really late

(Now I do all those things all the time!)

Don’t remember much about the festivities except that there were a jillion people on Marina Green and I was right at butt-height, and there were fireworks. Mainly I remember the odyssey that was trying get the hell out of there afterward. Tried a taxi but got out after a block or two because gridlock was so bad we weren’t getting anywhere. So we walked what seemed to me at the time to be about 30 or 40 miles through the Marina and North Beach before we were able to catch a bus that would get us where we needed to go. This was also my first experience with the stress of transit logistics, and I still feel that same exact dread now when I can’t get a cab or my bus doesn’t show up when Muni Alerts says it’s gonna.

I don’t think I’m gonna go to the Marina tonight for the Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th Anniversary party.

(I wrote this post for Tumblr originally but then I was like fuck it.)

So there was a Scientology float in the Carnaval parade:

And then this happened:

Carnaval rules!

[via Meesha]

The other day I got thoroughly bummed out by, and then posted about, some video footage of the May 1st “Valencia Street” riot. It put me in a bad mood, and my takeaway was basically, “Wow, look at how fearlessly they attack this cop car — this is scary.” The first seven minutes of unchecked carnage were enough to blind me to the one ray of hope in the footage (which begins around the 7:25 mark). And my mood got worse as the comments flooded in. Until this one:

I was still living in San Francisco during the Giants non-sense and watched a woman drive through the mob and get her car jumped on which seemed to completely render the trunk usable as well I’m sure plenty of damage I didn’t witness. In retrospect, I wish I’d been the guy in the video who ran up shouting “Hey! hey! hey!” Instead I pulled out my iPhone and took a picture which I’m pretty ashamed of. At least the story the video tells, lots of spectators doing nothing, and one guy running up to defend the neighborhood. If you’re looking for something to take from this video, be that guy who runs up in front of the window being smashed or the car about to be spray painted. And when they start swearing at you, don’t introduce violence because that changes the game, but just say you love your neighborhood and this isn’t what you want. [link]

So there are two silver linings here. 1.) This one citizen standing up to the mob means there’s still good in the world, and 2.) This one commenter bringing some positivity to the discussion means there’s still good in the Mission Mission comments section.

Happy Friday, everybody. Love your neighborhood!

Remember Lookout! Records, from Berkeley? It’s where Green Day started, they had Operation Ivy, it was probably your favorite label when you were 15? Remember? Spin does, and it recently asked Mr T. Experience frontman Dr. Frank to take a look back and make a list of the top 20 Lookout! Records tracks. It’s pretty good. Here’s a taste:

16. The Groovie Ghoulies “The Highwayman” (from Travels with My Amp, 2000)
The Sacramento-based Groovie Ghoulies were the touring-est band I ever met, and if anyone knew their highways, it was them. Still, I thought the world didn’t need another “life on the road” song before I heard this classic tune from the awesomely titled Travels with My Amp LP. So, yeah, I was wrong, but that’s the last one, seriously — no more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPQ-e3FMxYc

Read on.

[via Pavla]

UPDATE: P.S. Sewer Trout!

This exchange:

[via KimiYuki]

One of my favorite things to do is stay in and watch Damages on Netflix Instant and get delivery from Escape from New York. Their online ordering system is just a breeze, and I love it — especially now that I know you can order knapkins:

You can also get up to eight “Party Packs” for $0.00 each, but I’ll save finding out what that means for next time.

Have you guys tried this thing? It’s basically a tiny, one-person, off-kilter merry-go-round that looks like a tulip, and it goes real fast — and if you’re like me, it will fuck you up.

What’s worse, it’s located in the playground right next to Pop’s, so please don’t go getting any ideas. Don’t get faded at Pop’s off Hamm’s and Jaegers and then sneak over and try this thing. You will make a mess. Don’t do it. (I dare you not to do it.)

[via Meesha]

Our pal Brittney had a serious scare, and lived to tell about it:

Then the elevator moved, but then it stopped. Then the display began FLASHING. Then nothing. No movement. No opening of doors. Just the silent flashing of the following:

_ _

After about 30 seconds I began to jab wildly at the Open Doors button, even though I’ve been told by numerous know-it-alls that that button is impotent and does nothing. Still I stabbed at it like a frenzied murderer.

Then the elevator began to ascend, maybe descend, it was hard to  tell, because the elevator began to move while still FLASHING the ominous:

_ _

“Are we moving?!” The young man hand both palms flat against the side of the elevator walls and his eyes bulged from his face.

“I don’t knowwwwhatthefuckisgoingon?!?!?,” was my approximate reaction.

The quickness with which I began to lose my shit was astounding. I immediately had trouble breathing and when I realized I might be stuck inside that elevator I knew I couldn’t do it. I knew my whole body would shut right down.

Yikes! Read on for the dramatic conclusion.

[GIF via Honey Jets]

First she came up with the idea for coconut water (as you can see in the “Man Down” video below), and now she’s hanging at Zeitgeist. Rihanna is cool.

UPDATE: I think it’s true, based on how badly this guy wants us to think it’s not.