Mission Mission

The owners of the building at Erie and Mission that got Banksy’d back during the artist’s spree through the city in promotion of his movie were very excited about having a famous piece of art on their property.  Now, it seems as though they are taking it a step further, as reader Milu explains:

I heard they were going to do a mural around this Banksy piece, well, it looks like Chor Boogie has christened the beginning of it.

Now, I’m not exactly sure what he might have in store for the rest of this piece, but that obese robin is a fantastic start.  Poignant commentary about the inequal economics of art?  At the very least, way better than getting Kaiser Soze’d.  Curious to see how this all turns out!  I wonder if the context will be preserved, which you can see in the before shot captured by Travis LoDolce below:

(Thanks for the pic, Milu!)

Previously:

San Francisco Has Banksy Fever!

Banksy Fever Continues!

Amnesia Banksy Does Kaiser Soze Impression

From the comments thread of the previous post, Christopher F. Smith‘s fine tale of a 16th and Mission original.

Here’s the thing. Many property owners in San Francisco seem to think that life size owl statues placed as if perching on the edge of the rooftops will be a deterrent to the local pigeon population. I can go along with that as an idea. The scarecrow, right? Sounds good. But does it actually work? Internet people, via search engines, seem to think that they don’t work unless they’re selling them.

I decided to do something similar to what an actual journalist would do and took a look around.

Here we find a little trio (they’re not a “gang” just because they’re chilling together) relaxing on some garbage cans under the watchful eyes of the owl. No threat here. No thought that the “owl”, a natural predator, would ever swoop down and snatch them up. Are they co-existing or do they even notice?

Here we see two pigeons hanging with two owls. No problem. Everyone’s cool. Jokes on us, they’re actually having a good time together. They enjoy the company.

My thought, the pigeons (Rock Dove sounds nicer) are such urban creatures that they don’t recognize that the owls are supposed to resemble another bird. They think it’s part of a Community Thrift pickup that was left behind. They’d no sooner expect it to come down upon them like a fierce beast of fury than they would cower under an old broken Mr. Coffee.

What do you people think? In any case, I enjoy seeing fake owls around. I think we should mix it up, though. A vulture here and there. Maybe two swans to make pigeons fall in love. A dodo to make them feel superior. Then a peacock to bring them back down to size.

It’s been a too long since Gamelan Girl last graced MM with her presence.  Luckily, Gamelan is coming to the Mission this weekend for the first time that I can remember so you can all finally see what the fuss is about. 

Dance Mission (you know, the studio above the Chinese/Donut place on 24th and Mission that sometimes causes you to think the world is ending when you walk by, only to realize that people are just banging on giant drums up there) is hosting the Gadung Kasturi Balinese Dance group this Friday and Saturday at 8pm each evening.  Tickets are available for a very reasonable $12 at Brown Paper Tickets.

Chill out to the soothing, meditative rhythms and chimes of this ancient Asian art form.  Smoke a bowl or something if that’s what it takes (Disclaimer:  MM never advocates drug use) because you’re going to want to zone out to this contagious groove.  If that’s not enough, 8-year old dance sensation Chandra Ayu Davies will be there too, dazzling us with her moves.  Try something different before you head over to the Mission Creek Festival this weekend!

[Photo]

 Previously:

Gamelan Girl

Someone street-arted this morose girl all over the poster wall near 23rd & Valencia. Way to steal SILVIO’s thunder, dick.

(thanks to reader Alex for the pic)

Well, according to the stats, some of you aren’t just sucking down content from us using Google Reader. For you, we’ve added a two-day forecast widget to the sidebar. Why? Because your window is soo far from your bed.

The inaugural forecast? “73F mostly clear”

HELL YEAH.

(thanks for the suggestion, Scott B.)

Snapped in front of 826 Valencia.

Thinking about seahorses is what gets me through the day, really… even though my spirit animal is technically the honey badger.

Also, it might be time to start a new blog: CutesyAndOhSoPreciousChalkSignsOnValencia.tumblr.com.

Previously:

BIG ASS MIMOSAS
Made By Mexicans!
Save Haiti With Your Stinky Yoga Mat
You Should Come In. Yeah.

The always astute generic_ is not impressed:

What do you say we just call it Food and be done with it? We can open it up right next to where Restaurant used to be.

Read the rest of the smackdown. Grub just popped up on Valencia and 18th.

You all love the French, right? After all, this is San Francisco and I’d like to think we are Paris’ equally smug North American sister city. The best way for you to celebrate Bastille Day is to head over to Amnesia to see the always swingin’ gypsy jazz band Gaucho from 8-10pm.

There will be drinks, Charleston dancing, an accordion, authentic 30′s French jazz, and a REAL beheading. I’m not even joking. I was put in charge of constructing the guillotine.

Update:

Shameless tells us of more Bastille Day awesomeness:

There is also a Mods v Rockers Bastille day celebration at the Make Out Room. Supposed to be French guest DJ’s and dancing. It starts around 10 so fun neighborhood times to be had.

And Heather says this is going on at the Rickshaw Stop:

Don’t forget Bardot A Go Go! http://www.myspace.com/bardotagogo

There’s a new place to get your new bag in The Mission. Former Chrome bagmakers (bagsmiths?) have opened their own bageria, Mission Workshop, located right down the alley from Esta Noche.

They design their bags (and jackets, coming soon) right there in the ol’ warehouse, and have them manufactured in the U. S. of A. Colorado, I believe. Anyway, the bags are big and cool looking and weatherproof and seem expensive but are probably somewhat reasonable. $275ish? $239? For made in USA? And hardy? I dunno. I’m not that picky about apparel.

The coolest thing to me is that they’re planning monthly art shows, film screenings, and/or BBQ’s. In fact, this Thursday (7/15) they’re having a free BBQ and beer bash from your afterwork time to the late evening time (“happy hour time”). Plus art from Nate Smith and Caleb Sheridan. Should be sweet.

As a side note, doesn’t it seem like our neighborhood is racking up quite a list of logos and products/companies bearing it’s name? Is someone keeping a list? It’s rivaling my home town in its bumper sticker visibility.