Mission Mission

[via Audrey again, who ''saw a girl texting and walking nearly get clotheslined by it'']

Handsome.

[via Audrey]

Apparently James Franco is a big fan of Kink.com — so big in fact, that he’s directing a documentary on the famed porn castle, and production has already started.

So what was it like when Franco came to the Mission? Indiewire has the details:

A tweet from Kink.com actress rain degrey from June 26 read: “Kink.com is all aflutter today because James Franco is here shooting his new movie. All these girls want to f*ck him! lol.”

Expect more James Franco in the Mission in the coming months, and maybe you’ll get to f*ck him if you’re lucky.

Previously:

• Kink.com to open Armory-adjacent bar for cocktail enthusiasts and cock and tail enthusiasts
• Peeping tom peeps on Kink.com
• Kink.com at Arinell (NSFW)

Almost seems like a directive.

Those of you who made it out to sample the delicacies of Hanoi at last night’s edition of Rice, Paper, Scissors were greeted with a pleasant surprise, as traveling omnivore and No Reservations host Anthony Bourdain made a special appearance to try the pop-up Vietnamese fare first-hand!  We were too busy scarfing down the delicious honey-glazed pork jerky, papaya salad, crab and shrimp noodle soup, and banh mi to get too close, but our pal Stuart managed to get some face time.  I wonder if he ever made it to Zeitgeist?

Concerned reader and resident Eric recently noticed that the Wells Fargo at 22^nd and Mission quietly changed the hours of their ATMs to a new ridiculously inconvenient 8pm closing time.  Since we happen to live in a predominantly cash-only neighborhood when it comes to bars and restaurants, this makes it quite difficult for any Wells Fargo customers enjoying an evening out to avoid the $5+ penalty for using non-Wells ATMs (not to mention folks who work late and need to deposit checks).  After his repeated requests for an explanation from their @Ask_WellsFargo twitter program (which is for feedback on their ATMs) failed to shed any light on the issue, he finally found time to visit the branch to see what the deal was:

Turns out, they are turning off the Wells Fargo mission ATMs (22nd and Mission St / 16th Street and Mission St) at 8pm every night because of vandalism.  Their words “that neighborhood is a high crime area.”  But they are not actually closing the gates to protect their machines; they just have the screens say “out of service” as to make it appear that nothing unusual is going on.  They are also not publicly saying what the ATM hours are nor, not even to the 1800 numbers you call to Wells Fargo services.  In the main system, these ATM’s are listed as 24hr ATMs.  Amazing.

Took a while to get these actual answers when calling 1-800-869-3557 since everyone that I talked to had no notification that in the Mission, all ATMs have been closing at 8pm for the past 50days.  I am assuming Wells Fargo does not want this info getting out for even the twitter responses are “please follow us so we can send you a private message explaining the situation” which I obviously am not going to follow a bank’s twitter feed.  And what I found out from the branch, they say they have no control of the ATM hours.

Does Wells Fargo hate the Mission?  We followed this up yesterday by visiting the branch ourselves and were told by the manager that the individual branches have no control over the new hours and that the new times came down directly from corporate.  Add up all these facts and something definitely smells fishy.  It’s not merely the inconvenience of being unable to get cash after 8pm; it’s the inconsistency of the explanations that truly inveigles us.  If you’re trying to prevent vandalism, why aren’t you closing the metal gate to actually protect the ATMs?  Have they just given up on our neighborhood?

Also, given Wells Fargo’s recent history of scamming customers with “unfair and deceptive” overdraft charges and allegations that it illegally took advantage of mortgage customers during the subprime bubble, the idea that this is another calculated attempt by the bank to exploit its users out of some extra cash doesn’t sound so far-fetched.

So Wells Fargo, what’s going on here?

Tamar Korn from NY is singing with Gaucho tonight at Amnesia, 8-10pm. She rules. It’s like someone with a time machine (perhaps this guy) plucked her right out of the 1930s. Here’s a clip:

Get there early to avoid the shit-show it usually becomes by around 9pm.

A short message from reader Mikel, stamped yesterday at 5:24PM:

Bourdain siting next to me today @dolores park cafe with a leaf shaped latte in hand

Can anybody confirm? Perhaps he will be at Friday’s taping at Zeitgeist after all?

[Unrelated photo by Cheryl]

The Bold Italic this week shares with us an illustrated guide to the staff at Lost Weekend Video. Here’s a bit about Dave (pictured):

Everything exploded when Dave scouted Green Day and got them signed. That band is also how he met Christy, who booked tours for them in Europe. When Dave talks softly in between drags of his cigarette in the back of the store, you can hear worry and sadness in his voice. “If you don’t drink, where do you go to have a conversation?” he says. “Outside of barbershops, this is about it. Often we’ll engage you in a conversation whether you want to or not. That’s part of the fun; you get to know all these people.”

Almost makes you want to cancel Netflix right this second, doesn’t it? Now meet the rest of the crew!

It’s been more than two years since we lamented the decision by Bender’s to replace Bags with a photo booth. Hadn’t seen Bags since, until last night at Mission Hill Saloon. Bags is back!

(Plus pickle backs and great drink specials, ample bike parking and cool bathroom art — see you at Mission Hill Saloon!)