Mission Mission

I was wondering what those lanes on the sides of Valencia were supposed to be used for.  For all we know, they could have been meant for Segways.  One of the painters suggested to me, “You should take that home and paint it on your wall.”  Thanks for the idea!  I just might do that!  I think he was joking, though, because then he wouldn’t give it to me.

Previously:

Getting A Feel For The New Valencia

Valencia Doing Work

The New Valencia Is Shaping Up Quite Nicely

Pitchfork 2010 was rad. If you haven’t been, do try some day. Apart from the epic lineups, the festival is very friendly and local, out in a neighborhood park your concierge and your cabbie have never heard of.

LCD Soundsystem nearly killed me with how perfect they are.  Totally cried during “All My Friends.” The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion are back, in good a form as ever. Surfer Blood continue to impress. Girls win the award for best shirt on a frontperson.

There were lots of cameras:

And LOTS of Ray-Bans:

Lots of trees and lots of people:

MORE AFTER THE JUMP . . . . .

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The Timbuk2 Dolores Chiller is $50 today only, just in case you’re into cheap stuff that is colored red white and blue.

Previously:

Cool Kids Use Cool Stuff: Dolores Chiller

Civic Center has one.  Embarcadero too.  Hell, even the Castro and Noe Valley have their own!  Fortunately, the arbitrary injustice that prevented the Mission from holding its own farmer’s market ends this Thursday.  Formerly available only to those unafraid of braving the underground and its ridiculously long line, the Mission Community Market makes its long-awaited debut this Thursday from 4-8pm at Bartlett Street between 21st and 22nd. 

And it promises to be more than just a mere famer’s market, offering live music, mural painting, craft vendors, and even Capoeira!  Think of it as an organic, edible indie mart with a taste of traditional Mission culture thrown in, along with food carts from the La Cocina stable (and plenty of snarky Mission bloggers).  While some have pondered whether we really even need another farmer’s market in SF, allow me to be frank in my reply:  As if!  Let’s hope this ambitious weekly event becomes another fine Mission institution!

[Photo by Pete Su]

Gotta give it to Detroit for keeping it real. The white hipsters that made this thing might’ve gotten their message through to working-class black folk easier by making the person holding the sign a working-class black person. But they kept it real. Will it do any good?

Fellas, you really shouldn’t miss Indie Mart. I am in full support of any event where you can get a kick-ass bloody mary (from thee Parkside) and walk around while beautiful, fashionable ladies are obliged to introduce themselves to you and excitedly hand you their contact information on creative stationary. Plus, for the gals: Broke Ass Stuart will hook you up with as many stickers as you can stuff in your organic tote bag. Flickr’r joda36 has a great photo set of the festivities.

Looks like the next one is going to be in Alamo Square on August 21st. Table fees start at the low, low $30, so sign up early. Details here.

More photos of hott crafts after the jump.

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Back when the Armory was still an armory?  Favorite comment so far:

how the hell did you get old cars to park there…oh wait nevermind.

Woodward between 14th and Duboce, 1976

[Photo by Dave Glass]

Previoulsy:

The Tens Takes You Inside The Armory

Kink.com Mad Libs!

A couple of people were really offended and were totally about to get up and say something, but then the truffles kicked in and they sorta forgot.

(via Laughing Squid)

One tried and true way to ingratiate yourself to the local community is to host a free event with a popular band and an open bar.  In this, the quite controversial Levi’s pop up on Valencia does not disappoint.  We arrived on Saturday evening and were treated to an enthusiastic crowd of folks who were just as curious to explore the various intricacies of the shop as we were.  Tables around the space were teeming with lettering stamps, screen presses, Macs, and all sorts of other design supplies, and visitors were encouraged by the staff to get their hands dirty.  Of course, the bountiful supply of free Wild Turkey on the rocks did not hurt either.

By now, it seems as though everyone has expressed their opinion about this possibly revolutionary endeavor.  Could they have made more effort to engage the already prevalent printing shops in the neighborhood, such as Ape Do Good, in an attempt to bolster those businesses?  Sure, probably.  But given their impressive list of local community collaborators, such as Southern Exposure and the Women’s Building, this seems a lot more benign than many initially assumed.

One thing that I definitely would have done differently about the evening though:  Even though it was free to attend, guests still needed to RSVP on Facebook prior to the event.  While I understand the rationale and crowd-controlling aspects of this decision, it unfortunately promoted this weird LA club vibe with people lining up to get in and staff with clipboards at the front door to see if they were “on the list.”  I feel this could have been made to be a little more inclusive.  However, once people got in, the joy on their faces was apparent as they were treated to free drinks and the musical stylings of local favorites Honey.

We spoke to Dan, the shop manager, about the ambitious project’s future.  The plans are to vacate the space by the end of August (so Charles Phan can open a high-end banh mi spot or something) and move to New York, where instead of printing presses, the focus will be on photography (not just digital, but also dark rooms with stop bath and photo flow  and all that business).  Then, if things work out, the next spot might be in New Orleans to open a pop-up music recording studio.  It really seems like they’re taking this community thing seriously, but man, I wish we had gotten the photography or recording pop-ups!  I guess when Levi’s thinks of San Francisco, they think of T-shirts.

UPDATE!!!  I neglected to mention the purpose of the event, but luckily commenter Patti fills us in:

That particular Levi’s event was a launch party for the 4th issue of First Person Magazine, which was printed on the premises that day, along with three limited edition artist prints.  FP Mag, made by local Betty Nguyen,  was chosen as one of the projects for the workshop.

We initially were wondering how it would all go off and it actually went really well.  I don’t think the RSVP list is meant to be exclusive but is simply a way to manage the head count to keep the SFFD happy.

Previously:

What Do You Think About the Levi’s Workshop on Valencia?

Inside the Levi’s Workshop

Photo by Ghost to Ghost, one of the better blogs about New York City.

Previously:

Dick Chicken on the Peeeeeninsula!

East Coast/West Coast Graffiti Rivalry