Mission Mission

One of the most dangerous intersections in the Mission is now getting a bit safer with the inclusion of some long-awaited bicycle lane striping! Previously, navigating the dangerous Hairball Gauntlet has been extraordinarily treacherous for cyclists, especially those turning right off the skybridge from Cesar Chavez to Potrero who are expected to contend with merging traffic exiting from the 101.  While this spells things out a little more clearly, until they stencil in that bicycle guy (hopefully with pink helmets), drivers will still probably get confused.

Hopefully we won’t need to get the tank.

(BTW, I totally messed up by not taking the photo directly 180 degrees from this point of view so you can see what I’m talking about regarding the merging 101 traffic–this shortcoming will be ameliorated soon)

I have bad news. I recently picked up some intel through my usual sources and it looks like there’s a chance that Godzilla is coming to town. But don’t run through the streets in a hot panic just yet, I’ve got a call in to some inside experts at Quantico to find out if he’s angry and wants to destroy everything, or is just in the mood to sample some of our famously overpriced coffee. I will let you know more as news comes in. Unless it’s top secret, in that case I’ll just tell you that everything is fine and not to worry.

UPDATE: Sorry folks, false alarm. No need to worry, everything’s cool. Go back to business as usual.

Memo to all aspiring San Francisco mayoral candidates: whichever one of you does this first is totally getting my vote.

Link.

(Thanks J-man!)

Pi Bar apparently has this beer in stock. It’s called Omer, just like everybody’s favorite Tourettic Valencia Street street musician. Perhaps Pi Bar (also on Valencia Street) should put together some sort of promotional event where they have Omer on special and a performance by Omer! That I’d like to see. That I would RSVP to on Facebook in a second, and actually attend.

Also, traditional blond? Our Omer is certainly not a traditional blond. Here he is doing a “kickass cover song”:

It’s this new single “Hoop of Love” by local band Dominant Legs (pictured). The Bay Bridged wrote about it a few weeks back and I’ve listened to it multiple times every day since. It sounds unlike anything else out there I think. It’s happy and weird. It’s the feel-good hit of the summer. Read about it and listen to it here.

Dominant Legs play the Independent tonight in support of Real Estate, and it appears tickets are still available.

2010

• Lady Gaga came to town to sample some delicious Mission sausages. I’ve got a sausage she can sample. No seriously, I’m talking about Rosamunde sausages. They’re really good and she should check it out.
• We asked you for a new Mission motto, you delivered: “The Mission: where latinos and hipsters politely ignore each other’s existence”

2009

• Someone left a friendly reminder to please take the entire free sidewalk couch, not just the cushions (it’s inhumane to separate bedbug families).
• Locals celebrated shark week by draping dead sharks over various Mission trash receptacles.

2008

• A Mission motorist took his disdain for self-obsessed bicyclists to Craigslist, actually made me hate cyclists a little.
• A guy posted a Missed Connection for the individual that kicked his drunk ass at Zeitgeist, praised the beating as a “masterpiece”

Well, this has been a dream of mine for a couple years now. The first time I played ping pong in Berlin, my mind was blown and I chanted for weeks and months, “WHY DO WE NOT HAVE THIS IN SAN FRANCISCO???”

Now we do. It’s a party called American Tripps and it debuts the first two Fridays in August. Here’s how it works:

It starts mellow, everybody strolling around the table, drinks in hand, possibly movin’ to the music, getting to know the people next to you in the circle. And as people mess up and the ranks dwindle, the action gets serious:

But not too serious. It’s all in good fun. It’s fun to watch, it’s fun to hang out. It’s fun. It’s the best! RSVP and invite your friends HERE.

Why “American Tripps”? Last summer I played a bunch at this place called Sportklause on Glogauer Straße, but they had some leftover signage from when the space was a travel agency catering to immigrants from the Balkan Peninsula.

So we called it “Balkan Tripps” because that was more fun to say.

Hey fellas! Her Majesty’s Secret Beekeeper is apparently hosting a singles night!

Seriously though, I stopped in to the storefront near 20th and Mission for the first time this weekend. The honey is pricey at $16, but it doesn’t get much more hyper-local than picking between “Inner Mission Honey” vs. “Mission Dolores Honey”. They all taste very different, which I guess isn’t that surprising given the distinct fauna and odors of each neighborhood.

I think I’ll pass on the “MUNI Tracks Above Dolores Park Honey” variety.

Fog and Laser was a blast as usual. Over the weekend they published an album of laser portraits taken at the event. Here are some highlights:

The full album (with 174 more portraits) is here.

Our pal Jacob did some digging, based on questions raised last week:

The contractors that were there said it’s due to open next week. The circuits for the ovens broke or else they would have opened this week.

No one was aware of a name change – the mystery continues.

What!

Check out the place’s new interior here.

[Original photo via Bernalwood]