Mission Mission

SFist reports:

Prolific Bay Area tagger and muralist Girafa (née Steven Free) pled guilty to two felony counts and two misdemeanor counts of vandalism in a Santa Clara Superior Court earlier this week. The 32-year-old Free, a San Francisco resident, was arrested back in October of 2009 on 10 felony vandalism cases in San Jose where the cops didn’t seem to be so appreciative of Girafa’s playful wall cartoons and personal branding efforts. According to Bay City News, eight of those felony charges were dropped, but the remaining counts have landed Free three years of probation and 38 grand worth of fines to the City of San Jose and various property owners.

Read on.

Erika spotted this dude a couple weeks back, but he wasn’t offering up any advice, just blocking a doorway.

Today, he speaks:

[Photo by Chris Gross]

Ooh, this sounds fun!  New local volunteer travel agency Humanitravels, who specialize in sending clients to Peru and Guatemala on volunteer vacations, is opening its doors for the first time and to celebrate are holding an urban scavenger hunt in the Mission:

Participants will race around the neighborhood solving Latin America and volunteering based challenges. We’ll use the richness of the neighborhood to fuel the hunt. Some clues will be found in Mission murals, other in local non-profits, others still in local businesses which are also contributing grab bag prizes.

There’s loads of prizes as well including local restaurant gift certificates, discounted trips and random dollar store finds.

If you’re  not doing anything on Saturday come out and join!  The fun starts at Reaction Restaurant (2183 Mission St. @ 18th) and lasts from 2pm – 5pm!  Check out the Facebook event page for more details.

[Photo by joelaz]

Tomorrow (Saturday) the Mission Neighborhood Center is hosting live poetry and storytelling about “the Mission and beyond”. They’re raising funds for their GED program, and all the money goes straight to their students’ testing fees.

Help out the kids! $10 later they’re that much closer to glory! You were a kid once too, someone probably gave you ten bucks.

Precita Valley Community Center at 534 Precita Avenue, 8-11pm.

A couple of things going on here.

Maybe you saw this scene on Sunday and wondered what was up? Turns out it was election day in Peru, and voting is mandatory for all Peruvians even if you’re overseas. How nice.

Unfortunately, the three moderate candidates split the moderate votes, leaving two weirdos to compete for the presidency in a June runoff. The LA Times reports that Peru is basically fucked:

Both appear wanting in experience, and concerns about their commitment to democracy prompted Peruvian writer and Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa to say the decision will be like “choosing between AIDS and terminal cancer.”

Read on. (Thanks, Kristina!)

[Photo by reader Mennlay A. via our Facebook wall]

No, not poo horror. Pooh horror!

The horror!

[via Storts]

You know how every time you have an Old Shoe somebody comments on the size of your ice cube? Outwardly you’re like, “Settle down, newbie,” but really you’re gratified by how impressed they are.

Well, Rumback, my favorite blog loosely devoted to the impending rum comeback, figured out how to experience those feelings in the comfort of your own home. (All you need is a Williams-Sonoma King Cube Silicone Ice Cube Tray).

(Thanks, Helen!)

Chrome gear on the cheap AND free beer? It will be a happy Friday indeed:

Bags $45, Shoes $20 – great deals! (Up to 80% off.)
Sale starts at 10:00 am on Friday, April 15th – get there early to get the deals and come back for FREE beer and music at 5:00.  Chrome SF, 580 4th Street @ Brannan

I’ve been to a few of these Chrome events before, and not only are they a good time, but I’ve also snagged some pretty sick deals in the process (bright yellow messenger bag, you can do no wrong).