Mission Mission

Although the best spot to incinerate your desiccated Christmas tree is obviously Ocean Beach, with your living room being a close second, who’s to say that the sidewalks of the Mission can’t get in on the fun too?

(Thanks, Charlie!)

Mr. Eric Sir recommends against it.

Not quite as cool as when the Delorean from Back to the Future was hanging out, but still cool.

I wonder what year this dude came from:

Thanks, Jason!

Our friend Joe spotted this hip little eatery, which has just established itself right next to Revolution Cafe. I don’t know about you, but I think I’m a little burnt out on all of these new restaurants opening up in the neighborhood.

No . . . fake tragedy made out of tape.

A dear reader writes in with a harrowing tale from last week:

i was on my motorcycle, riding south down guerrero toward 22nd st. when a white SUV pulled a u-turn from the right lane in front of me.  I braked, but slammed into his left side with the right side of my body, and then it drove off.  this was right in front of The Liberties (and one of their staff, a woman with long blonde hair, was one of the first people at my side) around 10pm on Tuesday night.

I am writing this for two reasons:

one — to see if anyone has seen a white Jeep Cherokee with damage on its left side?  if the other driver is not found, then i am out of pocket for all expenses for my health and to fix my moto, and i do not have much in my pockets.

two — to thank the people who stopped to help me, the staff member from the liberties, the police and EMTs who took care of me on the scene, and the nurses, x-ray techs, and doctors at SF General’s ER who were so kind, calm, and helpful.  they made a very scary situation bearable, and i appreciate all of their skill and wish to thank them from the bottom of my heart.  these are the real heros of the city.

Glad to hear she’s alive and well, but hopefully someone will be able to provide more information that brings the driver to justice because this is a really sucky situation.  Anyone who has more info should reply in the comments and she will get back to you.

The suspect is described as an Asian or Hispanic male, 25 years of age, 5’10”, 160lbs, with a buzz haircut and slight beard growth. He was wearing a dark hooded shirt and dark pants.

Anyone with any information is urged to contact San Francisco Police anonymously at (415) 575-4444, or text a tip to TIP411 with SFPD typed in at the beginning of the message.

[via SFPD facebook]

First of all, the Red Poppy on 23rd and Folsom is one of my favorite places to see shows in the city. There are not a lot of venues where you can recline on a bed of fluffy pillows while taking in the sounds of a local musician’s electro-jazz interpretations of Radiohead or a modern Turkish and Balkan folk ensemble. Noisy, crowded 500-seat rock shows with $6 beers served out of plastic cups are swell, but these shows are small, intimate, and raw. The Poppy’s calendar is diverse and always interesting. The audience is always enthusiastic and engaged. The shows wrap up at 10pm so they don’t tie up your night.

On top of all this, they pay musicians really well… like 70% of the door well. As a musician, I have consistently made more from a performance at the Red Poppy than at any other music venue in the city and had a better time performing for the smaller and more enthusiastic crowds there. At those rates, musicians could, I don’t know, maybe make a living doing their good work. It makes you wonder: why aren’t there more places like this?

Last year, the city of San Francisco passed legislation for Limited Live Performance Permit which allows small venues to host live performances for a one time fee of $385, without paying the exorbitant cabaret license that is meant for larger concert halls, which costs in the thousands. The Red Poppy is applying for this permit and there will be a hearing about it tomorrow at City Hall. This hearing will be a large factor in determining whether or not they will be able to continue their programming.

The staff expects some opposition from the neighbors, but request that supporters can be respectful and non-combative about their concerns. So if you’re a fan of the Poppy, like I am, consider showing your support at City Hall tomorrow at 5:30pm. There will be a debrief at the Red Poppy 3-4pm. More details on facebook.

Last night, there was a march for solidarity in response to the rape attempt reported on January 8. Participants marched to 24th St. BART at 5:30pm and stopped to let volunteers speak and share their thoughts.

While some of the speakers talked about ways for potential victims to stay safe, such taking self defense classes, carrying mace, and not walking home alone, I was moved by some of the more idealogical issues about the surrounding community that were discussed. Some of my takeaways of that kind were:

• If someone says she was sexually assaulted, believe her.
• Don’t ignore cries for help.
• Get to know everyone in your neighborhood.
• Don’t blame the victim.
• Don’t joke about rape.

The reason these things hit home for me is because I, like many of you, read comments on this blog. I know that a few commenters fall under these categories when we post about these incidents.

If your first reaction to sensational reports that don’t show up on the news first is to think that they are a hoax, then please consider that some rapes go unreported because victims are afraid they won’t be taken seriously and that they will be shamed in their communities. In fact, I just heard about someone who still thought that the recently-convicted Mission rapist of last year was an “internet hoax”!

No, we aren’t seasoned reporters, but we are members of this community and if we don’t take it seriously, how do we expect anyone else to? It starts here, folks.

We live in a crazy neighborhood where wild stuff happens all the time. We can get numb to it, retreating behind locked doors and immersing ourselves in the global distractions of the internet. When we spend our evenings arguing in international political subreddits, testing out the nejlepší online casina, or streaming obscure foreign cinema releases, we become hyper-connected to the rest of the world but completely disconnected from the physical reality right outside our windows. But we should never turn a blind eye to people in danger. There are so many different people living in the Mission who are invisible to one another. Stopping and getting to know your neighbors can go a long way in knowing when something isn’t right.

Stay safe everybody, but also keep others safe.

[Top photo via Adrian Arias]

If you’re vegan or doing a vegan month like I am, and you miss waffles and all manners of sweet breakfasty foods that usually contain eggs and/or dairy, the Way Out Cafe (at Mission and Valencia) is throwing a vegan waffle party tomorrow, 10am-1pm.