Mission Mission

Now that there’s a real-life Iron Man suit, and robots are teaching themselves how to be expert archers, is it only a matter of time before computerkind teams with smart pups like this to subjugate the human race — and take over our soccer leagues??

Check it out! Those big eyes that used to hang out between the “GIANT” and the “VALUE” in the Giant Value sign have migrated to New York’s Lower East Side! And they’ve hooked up with a pair of nostrils!

P.S. I did some research. The artist goes by End War.

Photo by Bat Bombs.

P.P.S. End war!

Just as the evening news warned last week, a ton of moped riders descended on SF over the weekend. Here they are idling in Dolores Park, and then setting out on another leg of their journey. (WARNING: Not much happens in this video.)

Necessary Conversation, a weekly online newscast starring Melissa Griffin and Beth Spotswood, hipped us to this popular new Mission District storefront. Can’t wait to check it out.

Here are some other highlights from last week’s episode:

Mission Local over the weekend published a series of portraits of bike owners in Dolores Park. Each portrait is accompanied by some commentary from the subject regarding the way they use their bike. Casey here uses her bike for transportation! Read on.

Caitlin Podiak snapped this beaut’ at the fair yesterday. Perfect composition, right?

Update: SFist has tons more pics.

Jane over at Janebook was the victim of a legit sex crime the other night, but at least she managed to pull a great blog entry out of the ordeal. It starts with this screen shot of a Facebook conversation:

And after that, she charts “types of dick exposure from least classy to classiest.” Read on if you’re dying to know where N-Judah dick ranks. (No Greg Dewar jokes, please.)

Miscellaziness followed this jumping guy around the Mission the other night and documented several epic night jumps.

Let’s hear it for low-res photography!

If you were walking by Clarion Alley at Valencia Saturday afternoon a very friendly guy with a can of spray paint in one hand and a Flip camera in the other may have excitedly encouraged you to paint your name on the wall. Chor Boogie was getting tourists and locals alike, most skeptical at first, to grab a can of paint and throw-up.

Chor has been collaborating with the San Francisco Arts Commission for the Free Wall Program, giving people a legal space to paint on to discourage them from painting . . . anywhere else. Little kids can get started early by painting with cops. He hosted a free wall at the last Sunday Streets in the Western Addition, and will host another for the October 24th Sunday Streets at Civic Center.

It’s definitely fun to have a bunch of random strangers collaborate on a large piece, but I’m not sure how you make a product that can be enjoyed once the process is finished. The Clarion wall as it ended up (directly above) is cool in a chaotic way, but is ultimately a mess. You could say it reflects the overlapping thoughts and voices that is life in a neighborhood as dense as The Mission. Or something like that. But it’s still too much for me to really want to look at.

That’s not really the point here, I know. People were enjoying being able to paint without rules or structure. (though etiquette was still enforced, Chor reminded a man not to spray upwind of another artist) So the process is engaging and inspiring and freeing, but once it’s done what are we supposed to do with what’s left? I wonder if they’d be able to impose a loose structure that allows people to feel empowered to create what they want, but gives them enough framework to produce something cohesive. Exquisite Corpse? Paint by numbers? Maybe everyone gets assigned a piece of a known painting that gets recreated as you go.

In any case I like the idea and the $150,000 program also pays for commissioned murals and arts in schools, which is rad.

Carin sends us word of another stabbing that took place near the Dolores Park last night (2am):

I live on 20th and Church and there was a crazy stabbing on our block last night, at the steps on top that link to Sanchez. My roommate just told me, I somehow slept through out it…. around 2 AM they heard loud screams, a prostitute was stabbed by this guy, the john.

She was stabbed in the neck and managed to get herself to a neighbor’s house who helped give her first aid until an ambulance guy. A bunch of police showed up, and the guy fled. They brought the woman into the ambulance, she seemed alive. Don’t think they found the guy

Yikes. Stay safe, folks.