Mission Mission

Look at the size of that baton. And three or four of them were wearing gas masks.

All we wanted to do was cruise down Powell into the morass of Black Friday shoppers and see what was up, but NOOO. These guys had to blockade the whole neighborhood all geared up for war. God forbid anybody messes with commerce on the biggest shopping day of the year.

The ride was super fun though. A small group, nimble, good attitudes, and a few scenic stops:

We should all eat at Taqueria Cancun in the middle of the night more often. I mean, I do it plenty, and I’m sure most of you do too, but I feel like we haven’t talked about it in a while. Isn’t it the best? Look at those avocados; they’re like butter.

[Photo by Alissa]

OMFGNYC saw this and said: ”Don’t cry for me California.”

I see it and say, “Possibly a relative of Forlorn Candy Corn?”

Reader MC might’ve just experienced a Thanksgiving miracle:

So, riding from one Thanksgiving dinner to the next, I rode south on Capp Street. I crossed 24th Street. And right here [pictured] I see a 42″ plasma TV sitting on the ground.

After checking it out for a few minutes, I realize there’s no way to carry it along with my bike to the house. So, I go to the house and recruit a friend to help me carry back to the house. We plug it in — it works. I plug in the cable, and I’m watching TV now. The thing works perfectly.

I decide to be a good guy, and post a note — thinking maybe someone is moving (who moves on Thanksgiving?)… or I don’t know how you can ‘lose’ a 70+ pound, 42″ inch TV. But, I think that’s the moral thing to do, right?

The only other viable option– someone planned to buy a new TV for Black Friday, and just tossed this thing– but it sells for over $700 used on amazon.

So– the question is — 1) Who lives at Capp & 24th who just ‘throws out’ a $700 TV? 2) What does that say about the state of the Mission if so? 3) Is there a secret spy camera inside watching me as I type this? 4) Did someone break into a house, and get around the block and gave up because it was heavy? 5) What should I be doing with this? Should I post a Craiglist Lost/found post? Is the note sufficient? 6) Does it have a curse on it? 7) But seriously– who just throws out a 42″ TV on Capp & 24th….? WTF?

This thing is huge– it’s bigger than my coffee table, and almost the size of my couch.

Also, FWIW, I paid the cab driver $20 to load my TV, my bike, and me and drive me home. The first cabbie refused, Luxor said ‘no vans unless you are handicapped’ and then this Yellow Cab guy helped me put it into and out of the cab, so that was nice.

Anybody lose their TV?

[Photo by Google Maps]

As you can see here, Google Maps Street View’s face-blurring algorithm has taken to blurring the faces of luchador masks, whether they’re on somebody’s face or not. So, rest assured, if the Google Maps Street View car catches El Arbitro de Cola de Espuma committing a crime, in costume, it won’t do the prosecution any good.

P.S. If you’re not reading Apres Garde, you’re not living.

[Thanks, mcas!]

Happy holidays, everybody!

[Photo by Michael Patrick]

These photos come from a post we did eight months ago called Scenes from the Final Days of Delano’s. Happily, we were wrong. Delano’s has hung on tight, but things aren’t exactly looking up. A note from a concerned reader:

I was just in there and saw what was pretty obviously a death-powwow, in the meat (and what used to be the decent cheese) section. What I overheard was about the store closing, being laid off, and treating things like business as normal for now.

Things have been looking grim there recently.. it was better for a while, but the stock is getting slimmer all the time and products that run out are increasingly not replaced.

Again, I’m mostly concerned about the people who work there, who have in recent years gone from indifferent to awesome and I think really care about the place. A secondary concern is of course that I might not be able to buy an onion or case of pbr at 11:30pm without walking to safeway.

Sources tell us the company had been looking for a buyer, but that that effort is not panning out.

How much longer can this place plug along?

Previously:

Delano’s IGA on the Ropes?

Lisa Hanawalt, my favorite cartoonist, just published a lengthy study of Martha Stewart’s behavior when drunk. Not every item is as good as this tattoo bit, but do take the time to view the whole thing this holiday season.

Previously:

Lisa Hanawalt’s Gnarly Orgy [NSFW]

I can’t decide which would be worse: the headache or the stomach ache. But the party would be epic!

[Photo by AarinSmith]

“They are taking drugs and are extremely dangerous,” says this still from the classic 8-bit video game Lou Reed’s Street Hassle, “Good luck.”

Visit Dimension Arcade (maintained by local gaming historian David Enos) for tons more stills like this one.

Previously:

Lou Reed Defaced!

Big Corporate Lou Reed All Over the Valencia Street Art Wall