Mission Mission

Now that I’d like to see stenciled on a Valencia Street sidewalk.

[Photo by Mike Monteiro]

First, Levi’s opened a shop on Valencia Street. The community had differences of opinion on this matter. One member of the community, a performance vandal named Elle, allegedly wrote some graffiti all over their storefront. And then somehow ended up in court on some kind of charges, and then did some (more) viral marketing work for Levi’s. And Levi’s closed their shop and left Valencia Street.

And now they’re back, pimping their Dockers brand via some ugly typography and a Facebook URL. Reader Sara S. reports:

i saw this illegal marketing on Valencia outside of Modern Times bookstore. I’m pretty sure the City Atty just sued Microsoft for doing the same thing (!).

and disguising it as some sort of anti-establishment political statement?! come-on. “If you wear our boring, kacki pants then you’re not just selling out at your corporate job, but rather, you’re making history?”  or maybe they’re trying to soothe those who are feeling hopeless by making them feel better about their unemployment? deep or not, it’s still criminal acts committed by a corporation in our neighborhood!

I don’t even know where to start. Is some marketing tool at Levi’s going to have to go to jail for this? Or at least court, like Elle? Or maybe Elle is in on it?

In any case, it’s even uglier than Microsoft’s ugly stencil.

It’s been a long time coming, and now it’s going to be reality. Streetsblog reports:

A long-awaited blueprint to significantly improve safety and livability conditions on Cesar Chavez Street was approved by SFMTA Board today, culminating nearly a decade of community input and planning.

“This is the final step for approval of this really great project,” said Marc Caswell, program director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. “This project has been in the works for years, and watching the Department of Public Works, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), the SFMTA, and everybody at the Planning Department come together to build this world-class project was really inspiring and a great example for how future projects should come together.”

I can’t wait! Read on.

Previously:

Imagine A New Cesar Chavez

Mission Local reports:

In the same north eastern Mission District area where big-name breweries like Hamm’s and Rainier once stood, Anthony LaVia plans to open the Southern Pacific Brewing company, a new brew pub and restaurant that promises to return the Mission to its brewing days.

But while LaVia, 33, envisions the revival of the Mission as a hub in which the Rainier Brewery used to produce up to 350,000 barrels per year, he’s taking his plan one step further:  once opened, Southern Pacific Brewing would become the first brewery in San Francisco to host a dual license, allowing it to produce beer to sell on site as well as to other commercial clients — such as bars and restaurants.

Dual license! Epic! Read on. (Thanks, Jacob!)

[Photo by Southern Pacific Brewing]

Even James Joyce needed to start somewhere.  In case you didn’t know, there’s a unique little preschool here in the Mission whose mission is to prepare children to always respect and exude creativity through art, music, and other non-traditional methods (like constructing forts and giant robots).  If you’re a little confused, fear not, since they will be hosting a documentary at Brava Theater demonstrating exactly what makes the Buen Dia Family School and its methods so special.   Check out all the details here.

All I know is that I wish I had the chance to construct giant robots in preschool!

[Photo by Kozy Shack]

In a dumpster.

More info:

Hey guys! We’re having a chili cookoff this Sunday at Shotwell’s. Local pros vs. patrons. It’s free to enter (limited # of spaces left though). $5 to taste the chilis and vote for a favorite. Cash prizes for the winners. $2.00 PBRs and Labatt Blue. Starts at 2:30pm.

See you there!

Where the Ladies At? is an app for the iPhone that answers an age old question: “Where [are] the Ladies [currently situated]?”

From the app description:

Looking for ‘dem ladies?

Well stop the search, cause we found ‘em.

The where the ladies at iPhone application is a compass pointing to the venue with the most ladies. Done by the fine gents at http://wheretheladies.at. It could be a bar it could be a cafe, who knows!

But look: judging from the screenshots, it turns out “the ladies” are at a couple of Mission bars! Specifically, the Latin American Club and the Elbo Room. Anyone want to head over and scope the scene for the rest of us fellas?

From what I can gather, this app aggregates foursquare checkins in San Francisco coming from, well, ladies. Then it finds the location with the highest concentration of said ladies and shows you a big ass arrow pointing you there, because apparently people who need an app to find ladies have an innate poor sense of direction.

Now what the user will do with this information is anyone’s guess. But if this is his preferred method of meeting babes, I’ll bet he’ll just sit in a dark corner and elbow his “wingman” while making a a head nodding gesture towards the ladies in question.

[Thanks jacobchills!]

I put out a thinly-veiled request for someone to postcard-ize the awesome picture of SF comedians in Dolores Park, and reader “someJuan” delivered.

There were a couple more attempts in the comments, but let’s face it, someJuan clearly did the best job… and he did it all on MS Paint on Windows 3.1! The guy has skills is what I’m saying.

You’ve seen Portlandia by now right? If not, I think you’d better watch all of their web clips right now.

Say, someone should pitch a sketch to Portlandia showing people posting on a blog about how they are surprised you haven’t heard of it yet.