Mission Mission

I was sleepily strolling along Mission Street last Sunday and realized at some point that I was in Thrift Town. I went upstairs with no plan in mind and stumbled upon my new workout spot. I did a full circuit, some AbSwing, some Xtreme, some lift-and-pull thing, some other thing that I think I did backwards, then went around for a second cycle. At one point a girl looking around even joined in for a few reps.

Not bad for a free membership.

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“Farina is opening a pizzeria on the corner of Valencia and 18th,” an anonymous informant informs us, “They’ve taken all three spaces.”

I don’t know much about Farina, but surely this will be a welcome addition to the out-of-control fancy pizza boom here in the neighborhood.

The location can’t be beat (you can put your name in and then go next door to Self Edge and try on jeans while you wait). But here’s hoping any further Farina-related drive-by shootings stay west of Lapidge where they belong.

UPDATE: Eater SF confirms.

I was worried that my unflattering review of Nap’s 3 might lead to a flamewar. It’s a legitimate concern. Allan helped put me at ease:

You heard it here first. If these hypothetical Nap’s 3 facebook fans exist, then we’ll make a Herzog-style documentary of Allan eating his facebook, which should be good since it’s technically impossible.

Update: After School Naps <3 doesn’t count!

Fitting that this is a .png amirite?

Ritte Van Vlaanderen, some kind of cycling enthusiast website, this week published a helpful guide to performing the on-bike pee. Bonus points for performing it toward the long line of people waiting to get into [make your own joke here].

(pic courtesy of breadxbread)

Josh from TCB Courier says:

We have started working with Rhea’s Deli to offer free delivery within the mission for Rhea’s Sandwiches and dry goods. We are now delivering from 2 – 9 pm daily, and any order around $10 or more gets free delivery via TCB.

Rhea’s Deli has been winning over lots of folks lately. It’s easy to walk past this unassuming corner store and not realize that the sandwiches of the gods are waiting for you within.

At the recommendation of this very blog, I went there a month ago and had the Korean steak sandwich. It was the best sandwich that I’ve had in a very, very long time. Though, I gotta admit if that’s their idea of “mild” I’m not even gonna touch their “spicy”. They are also an honest-to-blog corner store, so throw in some Advil while you’re at it.

In case you didn’t know, TCB Courier is a bike courier service that will pick up and deliver pretty much anything for you. They are on bikes so they will get you your shit faster than anyone else. And yes, it is customary to tip your bike courier. Put them on speed dial now: 415-797-2255.

Free post-punk at the Knockout with some great local bands.  Airfix Kits sounds like GANG OF FOUR having a party with THE MINUTEMEN, and they even have an English-accent-sounding singer for authenticity’s sake.  Also, they’re one of Allan’s favorite SF bands (probably because they also have an Allan in the band).

Rank/Xerox is one of those bands that you can legitimately describe as “early JOY DIVISION” without getting laughed out of the room.  And of course La Corde is opening everything up with their WIPER-influenced raw sound.

The FREE SHOW starts at 9pm.  Tell the rain to fuck off and come out!

Previously: Airfix Kits at Pissed-Off Pete’s in Excelsior

As part of the Noise Pop Film Festival, on Saturday, February 27, ATA will screen the History Channel’s Woodstock: Then & Now, directed by Barbara Kopple. The film looks at the history of Woodstock and its lasting impact on music and popular culture.

And WE are giving away a free pair of tickets.

To enter, leave a comment below telling us about your favorite song on the new Norah Jones album. Winner will be decided randomly or perhaps based on merit. Contest ends one week from right now.

Seriously.  Some mega-douche made off with Mr. Daniel Harlan’s pug-nosed Himalayan cat, Samantha, from his makeshift encampment under a freeway off-ramp near 8th and Harrison.  Then, when he went off to look for her, his tent got stolen as well.

Seeing as how Samantha is the only thing he really cares about anymore, if you have any information concerning her whereabouts, please don’t hesitate to give Daniel a call on his cell at (415) 742-0095.  Yes, homeless people have cellphones too.  Pretty much everyone has one now.  In fact, I was woken up just last night by a recycling scavenger having an argument with someone he was talking to on his Nokia.  Multitasking!

Update!  The cat has been located and returned to Mr. Harlan. Well-meaning (an apparent non mega-douche) Tom Neville came upon Samantha just as Daniel had left her (leashed to the camp, in the rain) and assumed he was rescuing her from a terrible situation.  Which begs the question, is it a form of animal cruelty for homeless people to have pets?  What’s more important:  the pet’s well-being or the person’s emotional support?

[photo from sfgate]

Chasing the Moon is a great video podcast that highlights local bay area bands. The performances are filmed in HD and recorded in a professional studio one block away from the best Vietnamese sandwiches in town. I’m serious about the quality of these productions; they make Nirvana: Unplugged In NY look like it was filmed in Super 8. Ok maybe not, but that shit looks good considering their budget of no budget.

In the pagan tradition, the podcast is posted every full moon, which works out to just about every 28 days.

This past Saturday, I was fortunate enough to sit in during their session with the Nice Guy Trio, a very unique jazz group on the Mission’s own Porto Franco Records.

The Nice Guy Trio in action. I had little reason not to believe that they are actually nice.

Producer Brian Berberich and recording engineer Scott McDowell do all of this work out of the goodness of their music-lovin’ hearts. They see is as an opportunity to keep their industry chops up and promote the awesome local music that’s going on.

The atmosphere at the session was really professional and they seemed to have things streamlined well. If they were stressed out, they hid it well. Once things got rolling the whole filming and performance took less than an hour.

Spectators sat in a corner of the studio on comfy cushions from the couch and were asked to stay quiet during recording. Restraining applause until "CUT!" was actually really difficult and awkward.

Chasing the Moon is expanding to do monthly premiere events with live performances at the newly opened Viracocha on 21st and Valencia. Their first was on Jan. 29 and you can expect to see more soon. The Nice Guy Trio premiere will be in 2 or 3 months.

Thanks to Brian, Scott, and the Chasing the Moon team for hosting and chatting with me! More pictures after the jump.

Update: Brian had this to add:

Elijiah Pahati is actually the biggest reason Chasing the Moon is so great.  He is the Director, Director of Photography, and Editor, and is why everything looks good.  He is also our partner, every bit the owner Scott and I are.

So yeah, props are due to the Directory Elijiah Pahati! Sorry for leaving him out.

(more…)

About a year ago, Mission Mission published THIS EPIC PROFILE of this band the Limousines. In it, we learn about our generation’s lousy work ethic, and how the band accidentally wrote THE TUMBLR ANTHEM and just might be the voice of this very busy generation.

Since then, the Limousines have risen to fame and conquered Treasure Island (pictured), and later this month they’re playing Noise Pop — and we’re giving away a pair of FREE TICKETS! They’re playing Friday, February 26, at Slim’s, with Wallpaper, Butterfly Bones and Battlehooch.

To enter, leave a comment below that makes substantive reference to the aforementioned EPIC PROFILE. Winner will be decided randomly or perhaps based on merit. Contest ends one week from right now.

(And yes I’m still watching Late Night with Jimmy Fallon; I mean, did you guys see the Hot Chip performance last week!?)

Photo by Kristin.